Harry Styles FanFiction  The Mixed Tape
by StylesStories
Summary: A FanFic dedicated to Harry Styles.    A/N Just to say - I really appreciate all the reviews and lovely comments, and I read all of the, but don't always have time to reply.. But, THANKYOU!  TMT is now complete - Thank you all so much for reading.  Sophie
1. Harry Styles FanFic Chapters 1  8

THE FINAL 

The boys had sung Torn and were so happy they could give their fans what they wanted. People had been talking to Hannah and I on Twitter, pleading us to ask the boys to sing Torn… And now they finally were. It was a winning performance and I could see in Harrys eyes as he glanced towards us that he was desperate to win this. I could see desperation in all of their eyes and caught Hannah wiping a tear from her face… I couldn't hold it in anymore and I howled through the rest of performance, sobbing like a baby.

Hannah and me stayed in our seats as Rebecca performed, and we both knew that Matt and Rebecca would be tough competition. As the judges and their acts descended onstage my heart sunk. I knew that this could be it, and they would all be so devastated if it was. Hannah and I sat together in the 2nd row. The air was tense with excitement and nerves. Matt, Rebecca and our boys were on stage, looking nervous.

Dermot's wait was torture. The boys stood there, so vulnerable, so innocent. I contemplated what to do if "One Direction" was read out, but as soon as I started planning, there it was.

"One Direction"

I whipped my head round to Hannah, and knew that she was thinking just the same. We both put out hands over our mouths in disbelief. I could tell that, to the audience it was a shock. Hannah's eyes weld up and we hugged. I whispered in her ear "C'mon Han, we've got to be strong for our boys", she quickly wiped away her tears and nodded in agreement.

We calmly brushed ourselves down and composed ourselves as we headed down the row of applauding audience members. I stopped and turned to the stage – Harry had his head in his hands, and I could see he was on the brink of crying. As we passed down the corridor towards the backstage area I could hear the "Best Moments" being played. My eyes welled up once again.

Hannah took my hand as we arrived at the side of the stage, there was nothing we could do, and we both felt so helpless. We didn't talk we just waited… Waited to give our boys a huge hug. I could see Dermot talking to the camera, and I knew they'd be back here soon.

"Give it up for One Direction" The cameras panned out and the well-known X Factor theme tune played, the boys started to walk towards us. I looked at Hannah, almost to tell her "Good Luck".

I could see Harry's expression was that of gloom. As soon as he noticed me standing there he came towards me with a half-smile/half im-just-about-to-burt-into-tears-face. I opened my arms and enveloped him in my embrace. I whispered in his ear

"You were amazing tonight" and he whispered back "Obviously not amazing enough" – He didn't say it in a harsh way, but I had never heard him sound so down.

There was a crowd forming backstage as Hannah and I consoled the boys. We were full of "Everything will be fine" and "Everything happens for a reason". It was hard to try and keep all 5 boys' hopes up when I could tell that all Hannah and I wanted to do was cry with them.

I noticed Harry sitting on the floor, resting against the wall with his head in his hands and I sat down next to him. He started to sob and it absolutely broke my heart, I had never seen a guy cry like this before; now I was protecting him. We sat there, him crying into my lap for at least 10 minutes. My beautiful dress had tearstains all over it, from him and me. My once pretty manicured hands had mascara and eyeliner smudged all over them from trying to conceal my tears. The sobbing had subsided and Harry sat upright. I could see he was exhausted, from the crying… from everything. His eyes were bloodshot and his skin had turned a blotchy red colour. I bought a tissue to his face and wiped away the remainders of the tears. I cupped his face in my hands and he said, "You are astounding". I was somewhat taken aback from his out-of-the-blue comment. All I could reply with was "I love you", and he replied, "I love you too". He took my hands into his and pulled me from the floor.

His smile was back again. Even though it was small, it gave me hope. I knew that everything would be okay.

I could hear Dermot's voice from where we were standing and realised they were preparing to announce the winner.

The judge's music started playing as he took my hand. We started running towards the stage. Harry had got so close to Matt and Rebecca, and whichever won, he would be happy for them. Both were worthy winners, and neither were a surprise to be in the final two.

We stood together at the side of the stage – A family. We were the One Direction family – Harry, Louis, Niall, Liam, Zayn, Me, Hannah, all the boys' parents were there, Savan and Evie too. We had a massive group hug and we all knew it would work out for the best. It was so cute seeing the boys looking out for each other; the five of their friendships had grown so much over the past few months, and together they were like brothers. Hannah and I hugged and the winner was about to be announced. Dermot's voice rippled through the air "The winner of The X Factor 2010 is..."

Harry scuttled to my side, and grabbed my hand. "This moment should have been theirs" is all I could think.

He was squeezing my hand so tight, but I knew I could never let go.

"MATT"

The crowd erupted, and Harry threw his hands in the air and let out a "YES!" He could never be a sore loser; he had too much of a kind heart. We hugged tightly once again and applauded Matt. As Matt started to sing "When We Collide" Harry spun me round and we started to slow dance. His hands were hot and I could feel his breath on the side of my cheek; I knew he was smiling. Everyone started dancing; Hannah with Louis, Zayn with Geneva, Niall took Rebecca's hand, and Liam took Sophia's. Everyone was laughing and having a good time.

Then one of the stage directors shouted, "You can go on now!" and the contestants ran onstage. Niall was in Matt's arms second later and everyone crowded the winner. It was a magical moment to see, and I could see Harry embracing Matt too. Backstage was full of joy even though Hannah and I stood alone. We embraced and wanted so badly to run onstage too, but this was their time to congratulate Matt.

As the show finished, the boys were still onstage, and we joined them when we knew it was appropriate. We both got a huge bear hug from Matt and then found the boys.

The Xtra Factor and Konnie had to talk to them, and it was pretty surreal to be standing onstage, with all the audience there. Afterwards we all disappeared backstage and contemplated on what to do next.

There were celebration party's that went on until 3 in the morning, and Harry and I danced all night. We enjoyed ourselves, which I thought might not have been possible after the boys coming 3rd. At around 2:30am we all bundled into a waiting car, not knowing where we were going – Possibly back to the X Factor House. Everyone was exhausted, as none of us had slept the night before. I had got a text from Harry saying, "Are you awake? Xx" at 4am!

The ride back was long as traffic still filled the streets. Harry rested his head on my shoulder as he fell softly asleep, snoring gently. I was the only one awake along with the driver, and Matt's single suddenly filled the car from the radio. I asked the driver to turn the radio down as everyone was asleep which he did, but I could still hear the melody of the track whirring through the speakers. It was deadly quiet in the car, but unexpectedly Harry took my hand and entwined his fingers with mine.

At that moment I knew that everything would be okay. I just knew it.

Chapter 2 

As the car arrived at the X Factor House, I felt awkward waking everyone up.. I woke Harry first by squeezing his hand hard. As soon as his eyes flipped open he smiled. A huge wide grin

"Where are we?"

"Back at the house, you need to wake everyone up" I whispered, emphasising the "You".

As soon as I finished my sentence Harry grinned at me once again, sat upright and screamed at the top of his lungs "EVERYONE UP! WE'RE HOME!" I chuckled at the unexpectedness. Groans came from behind and "What the hell Harry" came from Zayn. We had been in the car for a good hour, and were all nicely warmed up… Until I jumped out of the opening door and shrieked at the bitter cold nipping at my bare legs. Harry jumped out after and I could see the rest of the gang collecting their things and preparing to get out.

The X Factor house was located down a small country road, for privacy (I remember Harry and I watching The X Factor 2009 and chuckling at the fans camped outside the previous X Factor House, and barricades being smashed down as well). As the others bundled out, I looked around, it was pitch black – I was confused.. Where was the house? The driver saw my puzzled face and said in a husky voice "The snow's made the road impassable, you'll all have to walk". Niall was the first to complain, "Are you sure? It must take at least 10 minutes to walk!"

"I'm sorry, strict instruction from Mr Cowell, he doesn't want the car stuck down there"

"It's fine, we'll walk! C'mon, it'll be fun!" I piped in. Already preparing by getting my sequin gloves out of my coat pocket.

I looped my arm through Harry's arm, and he stuffed his hands into his Jack Wills hoody pockets. We all started trundling along, Harry and I leading the pack. It was really really dark, and none of us had a torch or anything. I pulled my Blackberry from my clutch and lit up the snow-covered lane.

"I'm scared!" Hannah said quietly, and Louis replied, "It's only a bit further!"

I could feel something on my back, and knew it wasn't Harry because I could feel his hand that was in his pocket. I stopped dead and screamed as something grabbed my other hand. I jumped toward Harry, but all I could hear was laughing. Confused, I saw Louis' shadow in front of me and shouted "LOUIS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Everyone burst out laughing, and so did I. "I can't believe how loud you screamed, Soph!" Louis said in-between screams of laughter. "Well you scared the life out of me!" I said, pouting my lips and sounding hurt.

"Look, I can see the lights" Zayn exclaimed.

I was relieved to be inside the house. My fingers had changed from bright red to a strange milky blue colour. I heaved my coat off and laid it on the sofa. Trying to warm my fingers I started to rub them together furiously.

Louis screamed "I'M MAKING HOT CHOCOLATE! WHO WANTS ONE?" whilst skipping towards the kitchen.

Harry replied, looking at me "He's such a kid."

"I will, Louis!"

"Coming right up, madam" he replied.

I sat myself on the sofa, waiting patiently for a hot drink, anything to warm me up. Everyone else headed upstairs, still half asleep from the nap in the car. I shouted goodnight to everyone, and could still hear Louis in the kitchen making a right racket. Harry came over with a blanket and wrapped it around him and me. The remote for the sound system was sticking in my back, and as I retrieved it, Willow Smith's "Whip My Hair" Came blaring out of the speakers, as I panicked to press pause Harry burst out laughing. "What's so funny?" "Louis was dancing to it earlier, we all walked in on him!".

Just at that moment Louis came strutting in, with 2 mugs of steaming hot chocolate. He set them down and started dancing, with Harry screaming along "I WHIP MY HAIR BACK AND FORTH, I WHIP MY HAIR BACK AND FORTH!" I couldn't stop laughing for literally 10 minutes. After Louis had sat down after nearly passing out from all the "hair whipping", he finally retired upstairs, which left Harry and I lying on the sofa. He jumped up and span around like a cat trying to get comfy. He finally settled facing towards me, and the sofa was big enough for me to lean in and rest my head on his collarbone. I turned around so I was facing him and snuggled in close, wrapping my arm around his body.

His smell engulfed me. It was a mixture of Hollister cologne (that I had bought for him for his last birthday) and his "Harry smell". It was indescribable. It was sweet yet musky. Just right. And mixed with the sweet of the Hollister, it was heaven. I wish I could bottle it, and keep it with me when I wasn't with him. I closed my heavy eyes and fell soundly asleep, still with my freezing hands against his oven-like back.

I woke early the next morning. It must have been around 5am. The house was pitch black, and someone must have turned the lights off because I was still snuggled against Harry, who was snoring lightly.

I was still in my dress, still slightly damp at the bottom from the snow of last nights adventure. I switch the kitchen light on, squinting at the brightness; I scanned the kitchen and noticed a small jewellery box right in the middle of the baron worktops. It was a deep emerald velvet box, with a gold catch. I picked the box up and cradled it in my palm. Slowly I opened the catch and flipped the box open. I was expecting a diamond ring, as you do. But this ring was different. It was silver, and the shine on it was ridiculous. It had no stone, but a pattern that weaved from one side to the other. I thought maybe Louis had bought it for Hannah, or maybe Zayn for Geneva. I didn't know. I put the ring back where I found it and didn't mention it to anyone.

Later that day the box had disappeared, and to be honest I thought nothing of it… Until the following weekend.

Simon has given the boys, Matt and Rebecca a few days to pack their stuff up and leave the X Factor House, and the boys wanted to go house hunting the Tuesday after the final. So me, Harry, Louis, Hannah, Niall, Liam and Zayn went to look for places that would be right for all of us. We had 4 options, and the first 3 were just not right, whether they were too small, too dirty, but it wasn't looking good. The final house we were showed was a beautiful modern house with 5 bedrooms (no more bunk beds! Yay!) and a beautiful garden, which would be amazing for summer BBQs. The boys loved it straight away. It had a huge hallway, spiralling staircase and big bedrooms for each of them. They agreed to buy there and then, and as soon as I knew it we were back at the X Factor House tidying the boys' bedroom… Which was an absolute mess. I had never fully ventured into the bedroom, only to get Harry out of there. It was a dump, there were chocolate and sweet wrappers everywhere, clothes and hair products scattered all over the floor. I grabbed 2 bin bags and began filling them up. After 2 hours, the boys were all packed and the room was spotless, apart from the stain right in the middle of the floor that came from a tub of hair wax that each of them denied was theirs.

As we heaved the suitcases into the car snow began to fall steadily and everything was quiet. After waving Hannah off (who had to leave for school, back up North) We all clambered in and turned the heater in the car up high. The new house was an hour's drive, but it was already 4:30pm, so traffic would be a nightmare.

As thought, traffic was a nightmare all the way there, and when we arrived snow had settled all around. As we dragged the suitcases to the front step, Niall piped up "So… Who's got the keys then?" then Louis replied "I don't know.. Who has?"

We were waiting 10 minutes in the freezing cold just to find the keys. Eventually Liam remembered he had packed them in his suitcase, which meant shirts, and boxers were being thrown around and we hadn't even got inside yet… What was I letting myself in for?

We all eventually got inside and got comfy on the only furniture that was there… 2 huge sofas and 5 air mattresses. Then we remembered we had absolutely no food at all. All the cupboards were bare, no cutlery, no plates or anything. It was 7:15 already and a takeaway wasn't an option because we had nothing to eat it with!

I elected to walk to the nearest Sainsbury's and get some necessities like milk, cereal, cutlery and bowls. Of course Harry said he'd come with me.

As we walked we were both slipping and sliding everywhere. The pavements were slick with snow, slush and ice. I anchored myself to Harry, but he was as useful as a chocolate teapot! First he slipped, then I slipped but finally we arrived outside the huge supermarket. I grabbed a trolley and started picking up everything I thought we would need; milk, butter, bread, eggs, bacon, tea, cereal, bowls, cutlery and some chocolate to keep everyone happy. As we passed the magazine aisle I usually liked to flick through some of the gossip ones just for fun, but today was not the day to be intrigued about an apparent "steamy romp" with one of the boys. I whizzed past and as I neared the end of the aisle Harry whipped the trolley out of my hands, smiled then went running down the next aisle. He sped up and then skidded just like we all used to do when we were 7. It was nice to known that even with everything going on, he was still my Harry. I laughed and ran after him… After a few funny looks from the staff we headed to the checkout.

People were staring, but I needed to get used to it. At least I rarely got noticed when I wasn't with him, but when I was, things were a little different.

Some girls were supportive, but some definitely weren't. I think that because I had been with Harry since before X Factor, girls accepted me more than the "new girl".

When we got outside, the snow had thickened even more, and it must have been a couple of inches by now. We raced back to find the house dark. We opened the door to find voices coming from the living area and the flicker of candlelight on the walls. They all heard us and shouted in chorus "We've had a power cut!" Great, it was the first night in a new house with no food, no power and 5 boys. This was going to be fun.

For the rest of the night we sat in the dark, telling ghost stories to each other and playing games. As everyone was about to fall asleep I had a thought. I remembered when my family were on holiday and we had a power cut there was a switch that turned the power back on. If only I could find the box with all the switches. I got up and took a candle from the floor. I searched under the stairs, in the bathroom… everywhere. Then I finally found it, behind the curtain in the hallway. As I opened the box, there was one switch down, as I flipped it up every light in the house flickered on. "Ta-da!" I shouted into the living room.

"How did you do that?" Exclaimed Niall. "This box", I replied. "I just flipped the switch"

"God, a house full of men, and wonder woman saves the day! Who would of though, huh?"

Harry hugged me tightly and lifted me up. "Thank you" he whispered.

The rest of the night was full of laughter. Sleeping in a room full of adolescent boys was hard work. Louis and Zayn kept everyone awake with their "Vots Happening?" catchphrase and by the end Harry ended up jumping on Louis because he got so annoyed.

The next morning we all made breakfast together; it was a feast of scrambled eggs, pancakes and lots of tea. The next weekend they had planned to have off as the rest of the week was busy for all of them… Travelling from place to place for promotion etc.

Harry had pinkie sworn to make me dinner Saturday night, so I had that to look forward too, but saying goodbye to them that morning was hard. They were going home to see their real families, but they all gave me massive hugs. Harry had given me a little bear with "I love you" on the t-shirt and one of his hoodies to wear… It smelt of him and I missed him as soon as the drove off.

Chapter 4

The boys were hoping to get back by Friday afternoon, and after speaking to Harry on the phone, it sounded like all were in good spirits after seeing their families.

Between Wednesday and Friday it gave me a little time to go back home too, but also to sort the house out. The boys had left it with only 2 sofas and air mattresses as furniture, so I decided to get everything sorted for when they came back. Thursday afternoon everything started arriving. There were beds being hauled up the stairs, TV and sound systems being placed in the living room and I even had time to order food from the supermarket to be delivered. The boys' manager said he would stay at the house Thursday afternoon so I could go out… In all the excitement of The X Factor I had almost completely forgot about Christmas! It was fast approaching and I had bought absolutely nothing… For anyone! I caught a cab to Westfield shopping centre and spent hours looking for things for all the boys, parents and friends. For Harry I decided on a new iPod (with "Mistletoe?" engraved on the back) and a photo frame with a picture of the "One Direction Family" in it. For the rest of the boys I decided on DVDs and some books. I got Hannah a Holiday makeup set from M.A.C. because I remembered she had seen one of the makeup artists using it on Rebecca and loved it.

I knew Harry would love my present; it was all he could talk about when they were stuck in The X Factor House. His old one had broken after Louis and Zayn in Marbella had flung him in the pool with all his clothes… And he had been using Louis' old one since, so I knew he would like it.

It was almost 8pm by the time I got back and as I arrived I noticed all the vans had disappeared and everything was quiet. I unlocked the front door and stepped into a completely different house. There were pictures hanging on the walls, side tables with vases of flowers on them. I walked in to the living room and was shocked to find a huge flat screen TV hanging on the wall, the other sofas had been replaced with new luxurious brown leather ones. There was a huge fuzzy rug on the floor and it felt good against my cold toes. The kitchen was fully equipped with saucepans and a shiny toaster and microwave set. I started to climb the stairs to see what all the rooms would look like… First Niall's, it was a cool mixture of black and white furniture with some personal things already on the tables and bed.

Zayn, Liam and Louis's were equally as magnificent, all with huge king-sized beds. And then, at the very end of the landing, was Harry's. It was the smallest of all of the bedrooms, but still enormous compared to The X Factor bedroom, which all 5 had to share. It wasn't the same as the others, it was more feminine, and there was a bunch of flowers on the windowsill in a gorgeous vase. The colour scheme was cream and browns but it was still very Harry. There were old movie posters on the walls that had obviously been delivered from his parent's house.

I loved it. I threw my handbag on the table and ran and jumped on to the bed. It was soooo comfortable. I could have just fallen asleep right there and then if I hadn't heard the front door opening.

"HONEY, WE'RE HOOOOOME!" Came a voice from downstairs, and I instantly recognised it as Louis'.

"AAAH!" I shouted, "You're back!" as I ran down the stairs.

"Yup" said Louis "We flew from Manchester airport because roads were too bad" as I hurled my arms around him.

"Oh. My. God" came the voices of Liam, Harry, Zayn and Niall outside. "When did you do all this?"

"It was delivered this afternoon – I was just trying out your bed" I replied, winking at Harry.

"Ohhhlala" shouted Louis. Everyone laughed as I punched him in the arm.

Harry opened his arms towards me and I almost knocked him over with the ferocity of my hug. "I missed you," he whispered, almost inaudibly. "I missed you too" I replied.

The boys were dripping as they got their coats off. It was starting to snow even more heavily now, and I started to prepare dinner.

We all sat around the huge dinner table, enjoying the delicious Spaghetti Bolognese I had made. Louis and Zayn always kept conversations, mostly by just telling jokes and being silly.

I collected the plates and started to wash the dishes in the sink. As I was finishing I noticed Harry coming in from the living room with a wide grin on his face. I didn't turn around; I just smiled at his reflection in the glass of the window. He wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his chin on my shoulder. He didn't say anything for a minute, but after staring idly out of the window he exclaimed "C'mon, let's go outside"

I spun around, looked him straight in the eye and said, "Are you actually kidding me?"

"Nope, c'mon, lets go!"

I was pretty much in my pyjamas and slippers. Harry grabbed by coat from the chair and took my hand.

"C'mon… Don't ruin it!"

He opened the back door and a blast of freezing wind and snow whooshed in to the kitchen.

We stepped out, snow almost up to my knees, but I could feel Harry's warm hand against mine.

Snow was falling and after a minute my hair was white with crystals.

We stopped in the middle of the garden and Harry wrapped his arms around me.

"I love you so much, you know that right?" He paused. "Everything you've done just makes me love you even more. The boys love you. Mum loves you. Everyone loves you. And I just wanted to tell you"

"Oh shh!" I smiled, interrupting "You're making me cry!" Harry wiped away the small stream of a tear on my cheek.

"I love you, and there's no way I can explain to you how much – You'll just have to believe me," He said calmly.

"Your so silly!" I said, pulling him in and kissing him gently. The wind howled furiously and the snow turned to sleet as we ran back to the warm of the house.

Everyone was tired after the trip, so we were all in bed by 10:30pm, but just as we were about to turn the lights off Louis came running into the room and jumped on the both of us.

Now in-between us Louis said, "I just thought I'd tell you two how much I love you being together" He paused as we both started to smile "Accept he's always such a grump when your not with him" Louis said, pinching Harry's cheeks.

Louis disappeared and all the lights went off. I curled up close to Harry, still cold from the snow. He put his arm around me and I smiled. He made me so incredibly happy and everything seemed so prefect.

Chapter 5

The boys and me had settled in to the house, and were enjoying some time off.

Most of the time was spent chilling and watching TV and DVDs. Friday night was spent with a takeaway and watching Inception on the huge flat screen.

Harry and Louis spent 2 hours afterwards trying to explain it to me, but I still didn't get it.

I bundled down the huge staircase with blankets and duvets to get comfortable downstairs. All the boys' phones were constantly ringing, and we had a rule that for a couple of hours when we were together we all had to silence our phones. They all went in a drawer in the living room; Harry had a BlackBerry for "business" (as he'd call it, in a funny voice) and a personal iPhone.

I was bugging him to get a personal BlackBerry because then I could BBM him, which was cheaper than texting. But he always said he'd already sorted the phone situation out.

For the couple of hours (uninterrupted) we chatted, laughed and had fun. Louis always had a humorous comment for the film or TV program that we were watching.

On the Saturday the boys said they would leave the house free for "me and Harry" time. He had bought loads of nice food from Waitrose, and he wouldn't tell me what he was cooking. I sat at the table; wafts of gorgeous smells came streaming through the house. I could hear lots of clattering and cursing coming from the kitchen.

"Are you sure you don't want any help, Harry?" I shouted

"Nope! I'm fine... Everything's errrm... Fine!"

"Okay! I'm trusting you!" I replied.

A few minutes later Harry trotted in, with two plates of food in his hands. He placed them down with a huge smile on his face.

"Are you proud?" He said,

"Very" I replied, smiling back and kissing him on the cheek.

The food was amazing, which I was surprised at. He must've learned a thing or two from Zayn, who was the natural cook out of all the boys.

We started to enjoy desert, which Harry had picked, he chose Vanilla Crème Brulee, which was delicious. But he started to look nervous and uncomfortable "Are you okay?" I asked

"Yeah, fine" He replied, but as he said it, he reached into his hoody pocket and produced the small emerald box I had seem last week at the X Factor House.

My face must have been a picture, because I was a little shocked to say the least, but I couldn't stop smiling.

Harry knew that I wasn't as shocked as I should have been, and straight away noticed.

"What are you smiling at?" He said playfully

"I might have accidently seen it before... I'm soooooo sorry!"

"How? When? Did Niall tell you?" He said, shocked,

"Nooooononono! I saw it in the kitchen when everyone else was asleep! I'm sorry… But at least I already know that it's absolutely gorgeous!"

"Okay, well, act surprised anyway" he said as he snapped the small box open.

The ring was just as beautiful as before. He took it and slipped it on my finger.

"It was my mum's" He said quietly.

I was still admiring it when I realized what he had just said.

"Ohmygosh, Harry, no! I can't wear your mums ring!"

"No! It was her idea... Like I said, she loves you"

"Ooooohmygosh Harry! I feel weird wearing something so precious!" I replied

"It's just something to try to show how much you mean to me"

"It's beautiful," I said, quietly.

He leaned in from kneeling on the floor and kissed me passionately on the lips.

It was nice just to spend time together, he had been so busy the last few months, and everything had got so hectic that I would sometimes go almost a whole week without seeing him.

We headed upstairs as the evening got closer and closer to morning. It was around 12:30 and we got ready to head to bed. I brushed my teeth and got into my pajamas, Harry was already in bed and his clothes were all over the floor. I jumped on to the huge bed and got under the covers. As soon as the lights were switched off Harry grabbed my waist. He was a gentle yet firm kisser, it was just right. A while later we collapsed on the bed and into each other's arms, breathing heavily. (Author Note: Carrots!) Everything was so perfect; something had to go wrong somewhere along the line… Surely.

Chapter 6

Christmas was fast approaching, and the boys had decided to head home for the holidays. Saturday morning was hell. Alarms were set for 5:00am to leave by 6:00am. The classic "RING RING… RING RING" of my phone alarm startled me. It was still pitch black, and I guided my hand over to the flashing light of my phone. As soon as I had switched it off Harry rolled over and covered his face with his hands. I lay back again, not wanting to get up and out of the warm bed, but I knew I had too. I crawled to the end of the bed and switched the bedside light on. The light flicked on and Harry immediately groaned and pulled the cover over his head. "C'mon sleepy boy, up and at em!" I said croakily and as quietly as possible. I pulled the cover back and exposed his naked body, but just as swiftly he snatched them back and said something along the lines of "Shmuaaa". I could already hear the whir of Zayns shower in the other room as I got up myself. I opened the en-suite bathroom door and poked my head back into the bedroom "You better be up when I'm out of the shower!"

I reappeared in a fluffy towel, and luckily Harry was leaning on the headboard, twiddling his thumbs. "Ahhh finally!" He said sarcastically "I thought I'd never get in there!" He strutted passed me and gave me a quick peck on the cheek as he vanished into the bathroom.

By 5:55am we were all pretty much ready, Liam was the only one left upstairs, probably still packing. I had felt like their mums the night before "Have you got this?" and "Have you got that?"

"Cab's here!" Zayn shouted. "Yeah! Just coming" Liam replied.

We all flocked towards the waiting car, and then we were on our way to Heathrow. As we arrived paparazzi crowded the car and light bulbs were already flashing before we had even opened the door. Someone had obviously seen Zayns tweet telling everyone about going home and I guess the pap's had caught on. Luckily, none of the fans has sussed out where the house was yet, but it was only a matter of time.

I grabbed my suitcase as quickly as I could and part power walked, part jogged to the VIP checkout. The paps were shouting all kinds of things at the boys and me. "Harry! Harry! Have you got any comment about the story in the newspapers?" "Zayn! Zayn! What about you and Geneva?"

It was crazy. It was 6:30am, I had no makeup one and 6 different guys were taking my picture. Harry automatically grabbed his hood and pulled it over his head. I pulled by hair over my shoulders to try and hide behind the mass of blonde curly locks. It was no good. They followed us all the way to the security gate, and Harry had my hand in his. "Just ignore them," he kept repeating. He looked nervous, but not because of the pap's, but because of me. He was scared for me.

I reassured him that it was fine, but he was angry. "Why would they do that?" he said loudly. "Look, Haz, we're just gonna have to get used to it!" Louis replied.

We were safely inside the terminal and we headed straight for Maccy D's. The boys ordered tons of food; McMuffins, pancakes, you name it - they had bought it. As soon as we had finished eating, we headed for the gate. Niall was flying with us to Manchester, and then getting a connecting flight to Ireland. The queue was long and winding but we took our place and waited patiently. As we neared the gate, one of the stewardesses recognised the boys. She started smiling and looking at Niall – maybe she liked him or something. She was pretty young, maybe 19 or 20. We got to the front, and the same stewardess asked for our passports and boarding cards. "Yep, that's fine – By the way, your One Direction, right?" She said in a strong Irish accent.

"Yep, that's us!" Niall replied in an equally strong Irish accent, "We're all going home!"

"Oooh, me too! Back to Ireland – Looks like I'll be on your connecting flight" She said, winking at Niall.

"Oh, well, at least you'll have someone to look after you Niall-baby!" Butted in Louis, sarcastically. We all laughed and headed down the ramp to the aeroplane.

As soon as we took out seats snow had started to fall heavily.

"Look! Just in time!" Shouted Zayn. "Shhhh you guys, we're in a public place now!" I said, laughing.

Takeoff was the scariest for me, and I grabbed Harry's hand and closed my eyes. The plane whizzed along the runway, and Louis, Zayn and Niall were making noises pretending they were driving supercars, which kept the whole 2 rows in front and behind of us entertained.

I peeked out of the window, watching the towns, roads and cars getting smaller and smaller. Harry put his fingers to my chin, and swivelled my face towards his. He whispered in my ear "Just in case this plane crashes, know that I love you".

I smiled back and mouthed back…"Ditto".

Chapter 7

The plane touched down in Manchester on time. As soon as the wheels had touched the tarmac I turned to Harry and said, "See! There was nothing to worry about". We filed out of the plane one by one, there was excitement in the air as we all knew we would be seeing our families soon.

We arrived in Manchester to a warm welcome; Harry's mum and sister were waiting for us outside the terminal. "Sis!" I shouted as soon as I spotted Gemma. I squeezed her so tight she screamed, and we both laughed. We were so close, but me being in London meant that we only saw each other every once in a while. "The twins are back together", Anne said, talking about Gemma and I. She laughed and hugged us both. We waved Zayn, Louis and Liam off, as they all had longer journeys than we did. Louis and Liam had the longest journeys, and hour and a half from the airport, but Harry's hometown of Holmes Chapel was only half and hour away.

We stuffed the suitcases in the car and headed off to Holmes Chapel. I was staying at Harry's but my hometown was only 20 minutes away in Alderly Edge.

I would travel with Harry there on Christmas eve and we would travel back and forth over Christmas and New Year.

We rounded the corner into Harry's street - I could see the excitement on his face as we pulled onto the drive. He jumped out of the car and headed straight into the house. As soon as we stepped into the hallway Harry ran straight into the living room and bombed onto the sofa. He sighed "Aaaah - It's good to be home" he said as he patted the space next to him on the sofa.

I took my shoes off and snuggled in close "Your mums outside struggling with the suitcases, you know"

"Oh, yeah!" He said, getting up and heading for the door.

As soon as the door slammed shut I felt as though I could breathe. I took a minute to relax and collect my thoughts. I sighed and let all my muscles relax.

I closed my eyes and was so tired I nearly fell asleep, but as soon as I knew it Harry and Anne were heading upstairs. I offered to help but they had everything under control.

I trudged up the stairs after Harry and followed him into his room.

Luckily Harry had a double bed so I didn't have to travel back and forth to mine every day.

I had text my mum as soon as we had landed and told her I would call her later - I had to pack up some things from mine to be sent down to London.

I had decided to leave my 6th form at Holmes Chapel Comprehensive, which was where I was before the craziness of The X Factor, and start in a new school in London. My mum had at first been skeptical, but agreed. She knew that Harry and the boys would look after me.

I jumped onto the bed and was immediately consumed by that gorgeous Harry smell once again. I lifted the pillow to my face and inhaled deeply.

"What ARE you doing?" Harry asked laughing.

"Smelling.. The house in London hasn't quite got to the right stage yet" I replied, laughing and a little embarrassed.

Harry laughed, "Crazy girl" he replied and started to unpack.

I lay there just watching Harry. I was too tired to function, and Harry started flagging a few minutes after.

The sun was starting to set behind the clouds and Harry flicked the bedside light on.

He crawled onto the bed beside me and closed his eyes "You happy to be home?" I asked.

"So happy - you have no idea" I smiled. "Me too"

We were both staring up at the ceiling but I curled up to him and he lifted his arm up and over my head. We fitted together so well - So comfortably. I fell asleep a few minutes later and woke with the tapping of Harry's fingers on his phone above me head. "Mehhh, what are you doing? How long was I asleep?" I groaned.

"A little under an hour" he replied, laughing.

"What are you laughing at?" I said, confused.

"Sorry" he laughed again "I just posted a photo of you on twitter" he said, trying not to laugh.

"You did WHAT!" I screamed

"Don't worry, everyone thinks it's cute" he said, flipping his phone round and showing me.

It wasn't that bad, apart from the eyeliner smudged half way across my cheek. Great. I could imagine the comments now "What are you doing with that TRAMP" I tried to put it out of my mind.

"Mum said dinners nearly ready by the way" Harry said, still distracted with his phone.

"I might do one of these twitcams Louis keeps telling me about - Just to check in, I've been a bit M.I.A on Twitter" he said.

"Yeah - good idea! I'm not being in it though!" I replied.

"Oh c'mon, they love you, plus you'll make it more interesting that just me sitting there" He said, puppy eye-ing me.

"Hmmm - I'll think about it" I replied, smiling.

I grabbed my christmassey grey and white cardigan and headed downstairs, following the sound of cheesy christmas songs. They were coming from the sound system in the kitchen and I could see Anne and Gemma cooking up a storm, they were plating up so I called Harry's name and moments later he appeared plodding down the stairs.

I took my seat and sipped my wine while we waited for the food.

Dinner was lovely and we all chatted and laughed. We were still sitting at the table at 10:00pm - Harry and I had so much to tell Gemma and Anne - all about the house, and the fans, and the paps.

We finally headed to bed at 11:30 after we had all had a go on Wii Just Dance - Harry could sing, but I beat him hands down when it came to coordination and dancing. He was useless!

We both climbed into bed, tired from the long day. We both fell asleep soundly, with not a peep from either of us until the next morning.

Sophie-Louise Green

Hometown: Alderly Edge

Parents: Andrew and Michelle Green

Interests: Photography, Journalism, Fashion

Chapter 8

As I woke, Harry was already up and dressed and sitting on the side of the bed. I heard something rustling on his lap. I rubbed my eyes and sat up straight. "What's that?"

He turned towards me; his blue eyes glinted in the sun that was streaming through the window.

"A present" He replied. "What for?" I said, shocked and a little nervous.

"We met each other a year ago today" My face dropped. I had forgotten. Just like always. I was one of the most forgetful people, but I knew our one-year anniversary was January 14th because on our first date Harry had joked he wished it were a month later because then I could be his Valentine. "Don't worry," He said laughing, as he brushed his hand against my cheek "I don't expect you to remember, silly. It's only a little something"

My cheeks flushed and my smile must have been huge. The memories came flooding back. Harry and I had gone to different secondary school all through Year 7 to 11, but because we lived around the same area, most of our friends knew each other mutually. My best friend Ali had organized a 2009 Christmas party for most of our year and other people that she knew. I was first there to set the party up. Ali and I were so organized; we had bought drink and food weeks beforehand and were pretty much ready by 5:30pm. The guests weren't supposed to be arriving until 8:00pm. It got to 7:30pm and people had started to turn up.

By 9:00pm Ali's house was full of people dancing, drinking and eating. Some were outside freezing their butts off, but most were inside. The night flew by as we all danced and laughed into the small hours. By 2:00am there were only a handful of people left, and we found ourselves playing Spin The Bottle on her living room floor. I wasn't the type to get drunk, but I was a little tipsy to say the least. I looked around the room, trying to recognize some of the people there. Half of them were friends that I had known for years, but a few were people I hardly recognized. There was Adam, who was sitting next to a boy I had never seen before. He was cute, incredibly cute. He had brown curly hair and bright blue eyes. He didn't look like boys I had liked before, but you just wanted to go up to him and squeeze his cheeks. He was laughing with Adam over some random guy kissing Mel.

It was getting really late and I headed upstairs to get duvets and pillows for the 7 or 8 of us that were staying there. I struggled half way down the stairs, but I couldn't see the floor in front of me so I had to stop and rearrange the pile of bedding. As I was heaving the pile over my shoulder my foot slipped on the carpet. I tumbled down, head over heels with duvets and pillows flying everywhere.

Nothing hurt as I sat slumped and the bottom of the stairs, but I was trying so hard not to laugh at myself. I couldn't help it any longer, I sat there in among strewn duvets laughing.

Then I realized the cute guy with the curly hair was staring straight at me, over his shoulder. I put my hand over my mouth to stop, but couldn't help smiling as I picked myself up off the floor. Nobody had noticed what had happened as the music and sound of chatting and laughter was too loud to hear in the darkened hallway.

Then, I heard someone behind me "Are you okay? You took a bit of a tumble there" he said. I turned around to see the same guy standing in front of me, smiling. His smile made my heart flutter "Yeah, I'm fine," I said blushing "I think the duvets broke my fall!" I said laughing. He laughed too. He started picking the duvets up and chucking them into the kitchen. "You look nice, by the way.. I'm Harry," he said timidly. "Sophie, nice to meet you" I replied.

And the rest, as they say… was history. We exchanged numbers after a steamy kiss that night in the bathroom, and our first date took place 2 weeks later in a local restaurant.

I snapped out of my daydream and that same boy was sitting on the bed next to me, smiling just like he was smiling in my head a whole year ago. So much had changed since then, the only competition I had a few months ago was the school bitch; Jenna. As soon as Harry and I started dating she was jealous. Apparently she had had her eye on Harry before we had even met, but he wasn't interested. But now, every girl I met could be obsessed with him and angry that he's not single.

Harry's eyes shone. He lifted the small bag off his lap and handed it to me

"You shouldn't have, Harry, I haven't got you a thing!" I said shyly.

"It's nothing really, just open it!" He said.

It was a small bag with pink tissue paper sticking out the top. The small card on the handle read

"To Sophie,

One year on and I'm still just as in love with you as the first time we met.

Harry xx"

I looked at him and he was smiling. I smiled back, holding back the tears. I gently took the package of tissue paper out of the bag and started to unfold it. It was a box, and as I unwrapped the paper I knew exactly what type of box it was. It was bright aqua blue, with small white writing.

It was a Tiffany & Co little blue box.

I looked at him in dismay "Harry, you shouldn't have. I can't accept this"

"Don't be stupid, it's for you" He said, smiling. "Open it!"

I took the box in my hand. Not knowing what to do. I lifted the top of the box off and placed it on the bed. Inside was a small leather pouch, I snapped the popper and peeked inside.

Inside the small pouch was a small silver Tiffany bracelet. I gasped. He took the pouch out of my hand and got the bracelet out gently. He opened the catch and I put my arm out. Moments later it was around my wrist. It hung perfectly and looked amazing. I noticed that rather than the classic "Return to Tiffany's" there was different writing on the charm. I squinted to see it more clearly. The front of the heart had "This heart belongs to Harry" on it.

He was the sweetest, most romantic person I had ever met. He leaned in and we kissed passionately.

As we hopped down the stair, hand in hand I must have looked as if we had just got engaged because I looked so happy. "Have you two just got married or something?" Gemma questioned, laughing.

"No, not quite, but LOOK!" I said and held my wrist out. "Oh. My. Gosh!" Gemma shouted, "It's beautiful! Who knew my little bro could be so romantic?" She said, laughing.

The rest of the day was full of meeting friends and family. We traveled to Alderly Edge to see my family. My mum loved Harry so much, she was always cooing over us when we where together, "Aww – You two are just too cute for words," She would say and we would just laugh.

My parents were so proud of Harry and the boys. Before the live shows had started, the boys took turns at staying at each other's houses and Harry's and my house were full for around a week.

At the end of the long day we had decided to go out for dinner (a Chinese, it was Harrys favourite) and stay at mine. We constantly had to carry overnight things in the car because we didn't know where we would end up staying.

After dinner we drove to mine. My house was located down a small side lane and was surrounded by fields and forest. We turned the corner and immediately saw the lights peeping through the trees.

We stopped outside the front door and headed in. Although I had only been home a few times in the last month, it was still home. My bed felt like heaven as we both lay there. My room looked bare without picture frames, jewelry and all kinds of things everywhere. It was all inside the 2 boxes in the corner of the room marked LONDON.

The rest of the evening we lay on my bed, on Twitter and talking to the fans. Harry did a Twitcam that starred me for about 2 seconds. It was nice to see all the nice comments, but of course there would always be the haters, but I tried not to see them in the constant stream of comments. Harry stayed on Twitcam for around an hour, giving shout outs and generally being silly. It was fun to just be with each other and mess around.

I knew that the next day would be busy because the boys were all meeting and doing a secret gig for the fans in central Manchester at lunchtime, then we were having a private Christmas party with everyone's families and friends. I felt sorry for Niall, he had to travel back and forth from Ireland every time we decided to do something together.

It was getting late, and Harry had decided to stop doing #askharry on Twitter and go to sleep. It was 11:30, and it was a school night for all his littler fans!

We climbed into bed and snuggled up, the heating had switched off a couple of hours ago, and my once warm house was cooling slightly.

We were laying there, the room dark and everything silent. Suddenly my phone rang loudly, disrupting the silence. I grabbed it quickly and pressed "Answer", the number was withheld, but I already had the phone to my ear "Hello" I croaked. "Hi. Is this Sophie?"

"Yes" I replied.

"Well you're a fucking slag and you don't deserve to be with Harry." The phone rang off, and switched back to my home menu. I still had the phone pressed to my cheek seconds later.

"Who was that?" Asked Harry, quizzically.

"Some girl" I replied, stuttering. "The called me an effing slag and that I don't deserve to be with you… then hung up"

"Oh god." Harry said, sounding worried. He picked up his phone and dialed Simon's assistant.

"Hi, it's Harry. Someone's got hold of my girlfriends number and I'm worried it might be put on the Internet, can you see what you can do?"

He paused.

"Okay, great. Can you let me know if you do?" He paused again "Okay, great, thanks Megan"

He hung up. "They're sorting it right now, please don't worry" He said, hugging me tightly.

"It's fine.. I just hope my number doesn't get leaked"

"Yeah, me too. Simon's team deals with this kind of stuff all the time, it'll be fine"

Harrys phone beeped seconds later. It was a text message from Megan. It read,

"Already sorted, the phone number wasn't private and we've blocked the number from Sophie's phone. Please tell her not to worry as we've made sure it wont be leaked via the Internet. If you have any other problems please contact me. Kind regards, Megan."

I sighed heavily. What a relief. It was amazing what people with power could do within a couple of minutes.

"Please just forget about it," He said as I snuggled up to his side.

"Already have" I replied, with a smile.

My bracelet touched his warm stomach and he flinched a little. I grabbed my iPod from under the pillow and scrolled down the lists to find Stevie Wonder "Isn't She Lovely". It bought back memories of Harry constantly rehearsing for his audition for The X Factor, and it was his favourite song. I squished one earphone in his ear and one in mine.

I tapped play and as soon as the song started to play Harry smiled; I could see the silhouette of his face as he looked towards me. He gently plucked the earphone from my ear and moved closer to me. He moved my hair and put his lips close to my ear, there were only a few millimeters between us and I could hear the song being played through the other earphone.

"Isn't she lovely?" He sung like an angel into my ear. My heart absolutely melted, just like the first time I had heard him sing.

"Isn't she wonderful?" I couldn't help but smile and tear up.

I had the perfect boy, who was perfect in every way, just absolutely perfect. There were no other words to describe him.


	2. Chapter 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13

Chapter 9

The next morning I woke early to wrap Christmas presents. I scuttled in to the study with bags of presents, wrapping paper, bows and glittery Christmas cards. I first wrapped Harry's as I knew he would probably wake up and wonder where I was, and ruin it by walking in.

The smallish iPod box was easy to wrap, but the clothes and other things weren't as easy. I could hear Harry getting out of bed and rushed to get the presents hidden under the desk. He burst in,

"You know my crazy fans have said I've been abducted by the "Noodle Monster" just because I didn't reply when we went to bed last night!" He said with a laugh.

I laughed too. What where they like? "I've just had to reassure them I'm still alive!" he said more quietly as he sat down next to me and kissed me on the cheek.

We both laughed and started wrapping the huge pile of presents together. He cut the cellotape and stuck while I cut the wrapping paper and folded. We worked reasonably well as a team, even though Harry kept asking which presents were for who.

We finally finished at around 11:30 and carried all the presents downstairs and into the living room, where the huge decorated tree stood tall.

I would take the boys' presents tonight to take home with them, but the rest where for people we would see over Christmas Day etc.

Harry had to rush to get ready, and I helped him get dressed. First he suggested his white baby grow, with a smile, but I swiftly rejected that idea.

I chose a white t-shirt under a grey shirt with jeans and his favourite boots. He looked so handsome, and it reminded me of all the times he would worry about what to wear before the live shows.

We kissed goodbye and he jumped in the car. I shouted "See you later" and blew him a kiss. He blew one back and waved frantically as the car rolled away, down towards the main road.

I headed back inside, to the warmth of the house. I pulled my jumper over my cold hands and wished I were with him now.

Every minute I wasn't with him I had to busy myself. Without him I felt as if I would break down. I wasn't needy, I was probably more independent that most girls my age, but the love Harry and I had wasn't immature. It was real. I could really imagine spending the rest of my life with him.

I ended up spending lunch wrapping more presents for my mum. I then started to get ready for that evening. There would be around 100 people there – 20 or so for each of the guys, possibly a little less due to most of Niall's family and friends not being able to fly from Ireland.

I started by picking out an outfit. I had bought about 5 different outfits for Christmas, as I knew there would be so many parties to go to etc. I had a gorgeous short black dress, which had billowing chiffon sleeves. It was perfect to wear with thick tights and boots. I jumped in the shower and spent 15 minutes in there, shaving my legs and conditioning my hair.

I got out and did my hair. I put it in a "Snooki-Poof" style and it looked nice, I thought as I looked in the mirror. I checked the clock. 6:15pm it read. We were supposed to be there at 7:30, which meant I had at least three quarters of an hour still. I checked my BlackBerry, "[1] new message" flashed the screen. I opened in and found a text from Harry,

"Hey gorgeous, just finished the gig. It was AMAZING! See you at The Modern at 7:30ish. Love you xx"

The taxi arrived at 7:00pm and I was there at 7:35pm. I was excited to see everybody.

The Modern restaurant was high up, and overlooked the sprawling city. There was a huge wall of glass on the far right of the bar, and I could see the boys chatting with family and friends already. Everyone was there – Louis family and friends, Hannah too. Nialls mum and dad and Liam and Zayn's family and friends were all mingling together. Harry spotted me first and walked straight towards me. We hugged as I asked how the gig went.

"Absolutely amazing, there were so many people there!" he replied.

"Awww, I'm glad you guys had a good time!" I said as we walked toward Niall, Zayn, Louis and Liam. We all hugged and Hannah and I started chatting straight away. I gave out all the presents that we had previously wrapped and started to mingle with the huge crowd, Harry still by my side.

The night went by in a blur. A good blur, but a blur, and it was all over too quickly. At the end of the night the boys sung an impromptu version of Halo by Beyonce. They sung a cappella and it was stunning. Liam lead and all the boys sung beautifully. The whole restaurant was silent and the boys filled the room with their voices. For a Beyonce song they sung it like professionals, but with their own unique twist. The whole restaurant applauded, whooped and cheered. The boys were in their element, and you could tell they loved every second.

We all stumbled outside into the freezing street. Harry wrapped his Jack Wills hoody around my shoulders and zipped it up, still with my arms inside. He laughed, "You look like a penguin" as I struggled to get my arms free. I fell into his arms and stayed in his warm embrace until the taxis arrived.

We waved off everyone else, and by the time the last taxi had turned up, we were the only people left standing on the baron street. I opened the door and slid over to the other side, as Harry hopped in.

"Where too, love?" The cab driver shouted. I looked at Harry "Where should we go?" I asked. "Dunno, back to mine I guess? Holmes Chapel please" He shouted to the driver.

And then we were on our way. Whizzing through the streets of Manchester. Harry took my hand in his and we started to kiss. The windows on either side of us had started to steam up and a loud noise came from the driver, he cleared his throat "Oi! No funny business in the back please!" He said, angry.

I couldn't help but giggle, and seconds later we were both in fits of laughter. "Sorry!" Harry shouted, but his voice was inaudible behind the laughter.

We stumbled towards Harry's front door, giddy from the cab ride home. He turned the key and the door popped open. We staggered in and took our shoes off. The lights were still on, and Gemma and Anne were sitting on the sofas eating toast. "You want some?" Asked Gemma, still with a mouth full of toast.

"No, I'm fine!" I replied. We both ran upstairs as soon as we had said goodnight.

Harry pinned me against the cold wall at the top of the stairs. I had to put my finger to his lips to stop him from laughing too loud.

He bobbed his head toward mine and kissed me furiously.

His cool hands were against my leg and my hands wondered under his shirt against his hot skin.

We burst into his bedroom and fell onto his bed. Harry pulled his shirt and t-shirt off in one swift movement.

He trailed his cool fingers down my neck and planted kisses down my collarbone.

The next thing I knew we were both lying on our backs, sweat on Harry's neck sparkled in the moonlight, coming from the window.

He sighed, stretching. His breathing was steady but my heart was still racing.

I curled up under Harry's arm and thought of all the things that were about to happen to both of us. Everything had changed so dramatically over the last few months and things constantly felt like they could change in an instant. Everything felt so uncertain all of the time.

The first time I met Harry he was just a boy. Now, thousands of girls all over the country were desperate to meet him. It was going to be tough, for the both of us.

Chapter 10

It was the Eve of Christmas Eve, and a family party had been organized on my side of the family. Most of my relatives would be there, Uncle, Aunties, Cousins, everyone. We both started to get ready at around 5pm, I chose a blue velvet one shouldered dress from Topshop, and Harry looked handsome in his black suit that he wore when the boys went to the Narnia premier.

We hopped into the taxi and drove 20 minutes down the road to Alderly Edge, where most of my family lived. We arrived outside my auntie's house, my 2 cousins lived here too, but they were much older.

There were people mingling outside, smoking probably. We all safely got out of the taxi, without any injuries. Harry was helping my mum who we had picked up on the way. She had her 6-inch heels on and couldn't quite make it down from the back of the people carrier.

I could smell food already, and instantly felt starving. Harry grabbed my hand; I could tell he was nervous because his hand was warmer than usual. He had met "the relatives" before, but only a few times, and not after the craziness of The X Factor. For all he knew my 14-year-old cousin could run out of nowhere and jump on him.

Luckily most of my family knew not to be too OTT because they knew he was still the same Harry as before, just Well.. Famous, I guess. My other cousin who was a year older than me had BBMed my saying "Is Harry coming tonight? I hope so. You do know I'm going to jump on him as soon as I see you two? ;-) xx"

She was only messing around but she had had a crush on him even before The X Factor. But I knew I was safe, she's had a boyfriend of 2 years and they are literally inseparable.

We headed straight over to the bar, where flutes of Champagne lined the top. We both gently picked one up each and chinked them together.

The night before I had mentally prepared Harry for my family. There was my auntie Susie, who was the loudest person I had ever met. She always had a story to tell about whatever topic of conversation we were on. I told Harry to save him best excuse for her.

My uncles where pretty average, and didn't say much, so they were always the ones to go to first.

We mingled around, and Harry got talking to my cousin, Alex about snowboarding in Canada, or something. We were already planning our holidays for next summer. We were undecided on Los Angeles or Barbados. Harry had always wanted to go to Los Angeles, but I had been there before. We still had a lot to think about before next summer though.

The next thing I knew the Christmas music had started to play and everyone was bopping and shaking to the sound of "Wonderful Christmastime" by Paul McCartney. After a few minutes I stopped to get a drink, and as soon as I turn my back, there was my mother. With Harry. Dancing.

Oh. My. God. My face dropped with embarrassment, but then everyone started to laugh.

I was in fits of laughter seconds later and everyone was clapping and cheering as Harry spun my mum round until she nearly fell over. After about 30 seconds I knew I had to save Harry from my mum.

I whipped round the crowds of people and grabbed Harry's hand, and just as swiftly my mum had disappeared into the crowd of people.

The song suddenly changed to Matt's "When We Collide"

"Hey! Everyone! Matt's number one!" Shouted my uncle. There were cheers and just as quickly everyone paired up and was slow dancing.

Harry took my hand. We didn't need to talk, because we knew what each other were thinking. They last time we were doing this was The Final. I rested my chin on his shoulder as he began to mouth the words along with the song.

Just as the song was ending snow began to flurry down outside the window. For a moment there was excitement in the air and everyone ran to get outside.

As we ran out the front door to see the first snowfall I slipped backwards on the ice, right on to my ass. Everyone around laugh, but as soon as I knew what was going on Harry had picked me up, and I was now in his arms.

"Are you okay?" He said, smiling.

"I'm fine" I paused, thinking. "Your good at picking me up when I fall" Referring to the first time we met.

"I know – How many times has it been so far?" He replied, laughing.

"Only once or twice, I seem to believe. I'm not THAT clumsy!"

He looked at me and laughed, "Are you sure about that?"

We headed home and watched Christmas movies until 1:00am the next morning. We watched A Christmas Carol and The Grinch. The Grinch always reminded me of Christmas and we both loved that film. We snuggled down on the sofa, with Harry's duvet wrapped around both of us. Gemma came in at 11:30 and said we looked like a huge marshmallow on the sofa. She ran and jumped on top of both of us, and I swear that I was struggling to breathe from laughing so much. It was nice to spend some quality time with Harry and his family, everything felt almost back to normal.

Chapter 11

We both fell asleep on the sofa that night. I woke with Harry's feet next to my face. I sat bold upright "EWWW" I said loudly.

"What? What's happened?" Harry groaned.

"Your feet are what's happened!" I said laughing.

"Oh, yeah, sorry!" Harry said, slipping his feet under the duvet again.

The clock ticked slowly. It was 8:15am. Breakfast time.

I trudged into the kitchen and switched the light on. Pancakes sounded too good not to make as I opened almost every cupboard in the kitchen to find what I needed. I had found flour, eggs, sugar and milk from the fridge.

As I was pouring the batter into the sizzling frying pan, it suddenly hit me. It was Christmas tomorrow. A smile crept across my face.

"You know it's Christmas tomorrow Harry!" I shouted into the living room. "I hope you've got all your presents wrapped!"

I heard him get up, and then he was at the doorway "Oh, don't you worry your pretty little head. Everything is sorted." He said mysteriously with a smile.

"Good. Well, we'll just have to see tomorrow, won't we?" I said, trying not to laugh by concentrating on the pancakes.

I felt Harry behind me; he put he arms around my waist and hugged me.

"I think you're gonna like your present" he whispered into my ear.

"Oooooh, sounds intriguing!" I said playfully, grinning.

Remembering about the bracelet, my face was serious "I hope it wasn't too expensive though, you already got me my bracelet"

"Look – Nothing in this world could be too expensive for you" He replied.

He was just too perfect. Not that presents and money being spent meant anything when I was with him.

"Seriously Harry. You need to stop just splashing out on these types of things!" I said, even more seriously.

"It's Christmas Soph! Just" He paused "Look, just don't worry. Okay?"

I huffed. "Okay. Now get out of my kitchen!" I said triumphantly, pointing to the door.

"Err. Whose kitchen is it?" He said in his silly voice as he pecked me on the cheek.

I stacked pancakes high on a plate. There must have been at least 20 one there. I bought them in and placed them on the table. As soon as I had turned my back Harry had already started devouring them. Typical guy.

I came in with plates, cutlery and golden syrup. We both dug in and Anne and Gemma joined us a few minutes later.

We had finished eating. Harry looked at me and laughed.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

He put his fingers to my cheek and wiped off some golden syrup. He sucked his fingers and did it again.

"Why don't you just go ahead and lick her face, Harry" Gemma said loudly. We all laughed.

We spend the rest of the day at Harry's house just chilling. He replied to lots of people on Twitter, his "Christmas Spree" he called it, and did a TwitCam. He was wearing a Santa hat all afternoon and it starred in his TwitCams. We went to get some coffees from Costa Coffee, Harry chose a Gingerbread Latte, while I chose a Crème Brulee Latte. He was half asleep and looked like he needed caffeine. The smell from the coffees in the car was so Christmassy and warm… It was lovely. We decided to watch "The Only Way Is Essexmas" and record some of the films that were always on. Afterwards we settled down to watch "The Holiday" which was one of my all-time favourite modern Christmas films. It was all very romantic and I was on the edge of tearing up through most of the film. Harry knew it was my favourite film, and took my hand and slipped his fingers in-between mine.

Chapter 12

The alarm sounded "BEEP BEEP… BEEP BEEP"

I looked around confused. Harry had warned me he always gets up early on Christmas (aka he was still a little kid, at heart), but this was just too early. The clock read 6:31am. Harry was already dressed and sitting on the side of the bed.

A red stocking sat on the end of the bed. Harry turned towards me and smiled "Merry Christmas", he said quietly.

I sat up and hugged him "Merry Christmas, I love you"

"I love you too" he replied.

"Who's that for?" as I broke the embrace, referring to the stocking crammed with things.

"Us, I guess" He said, embarrassed.

"Awwwwww. Does your mum still do you a stocking?" I said.

"Yes" He blushed "but what are you on about, Santa Claus left it, remember?" he said, laughing.

"Oooh yeah! Sorry, I completely forgot!" I said sarcastically.

I picked up the stocking and emptied the contents on the bed.

There were 2 bags of chocolate coins, 2 Terry's Chocolate Oranges (Harry had never warmed to getting a real orange in his stocking), There was some makeup, which Harry looked confused at "I'm guessing that's for you" he said laughing. There was a mini Henry vacuum cleaning for crumbs (Which I had assumed was for Harry, unless Anne was trying to tell me something!), a couple of CDs and a few other bits and bobs.

I jumped out of bed, and clicked on my "Christmas Playlist" on my iPod, which was sitting in a speaker system on the side table.

The first song that came on was "All I Want For Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey.

I spun round just as the first line played

"IIIIIII don't want a lot for Christmas" I mouth along with the song, looking straight in to Harry's eyes.

"There is just on thing I need… I don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree," I mouthed, playing the role of Mariah. I closed my eyes and bought my clenched fist to my mouth like a microphone.

"I just want you for my own, more that you could ever know" I mouthed again.

"Make my wish come trrrrruuuuueeee" I opened my eyes.

"All I want for Christmas iiiiiissss…" The note was coming up.

"" I ran and jumped on to Harry as he dived backwards. We ended up rolling over on his bed and falling off the other side. We sat there laughing, chocolate coins were scattered all over the floor. We kissed gently and then picked ourselves up.

We bounded downstairs, and we could already hear Anne and Gemma in the living room. They heard us, and Gemma shouted out "What was all that racket earlier? It sounded like there were elephants jumping on the bed!"

"It was Soph being stupid" Shouted Harry, "Oi!" I replied, poking him in the ribs.

We all sat around the Christmas tree and started opening presents.

I started first, handing mine to Harry. I was excited to see the look on his face. He snapped the cellotape and started to unfold the paper. I knew that as soon as he saw the white Apple logo, he would know what it was.

He smiled, and unwrapped the box. His face lit up and he looked at me.

He didn't say anything, just kissed me. He whispered in my ear "Thankyou. I love you". I just smiled.

"What is it?" Both Gemma and Anna asked. "The new iPod Touch, just what I wanted" replied Harry, smiling at me.

"Lucky!" Gemma said. "God, Sophie, now I've got to contend with that!" Anne said, laughing.

Harry looked at his mum. "Don't worry Mum, whatever you've got me, it doesn't matter whether it's big or small, I would still love it" He kissed his mum on the cheek, just like when The X Factor crew was here. It was so cute.

Gemma and Anne opened their presents. I had bought Gemma some scented candles and bath things, and for Anne I had bought some perfume and a cookbook with cute oven gloves attached.

Then Harry handed me a huge box that was from under the tree. It was wrapped with glittery wrapping paper. "From Santa, I believe" He said, smirking.

I was nervous. I didn't exactly know why, but I was. I tore the paper, and all I could tell was that is was a black box. Even the packaging felt expensive, god knows what was inside.

I tore the paper up the middle, and I spotted it… The logo on the top of the box.

The logo was 6 big white letters. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I looked at Harry, unable to function.

I started to cry hysterically. Happy tears, of course. But tears none the less.

"Oh, come here!" Harry poured his arms around me and hugged tightly.

After the tears had subsided he spoke again "Open it"

"I don't think I can"… Of course I could, but I didn't want too. It was too much.

Harry handed me the box as I took a deep breath. The wrapping paper still hung off the end of the box.

I studied the box carefully and tore the paper from the end. The big white letters stared at me. CHANEL. Big and… White.

I carefully took the lid of the box and set it aside. There, in the box was the most beautiful bag I had ever seen.

I couldn't believe that this bag was mine. I lifted her gently and admired.

I recognized the bag instantly. It was a Chanel 2.55, my dream bag.

Celebrities everywhere had this bag, and now it was in my hands. I almost rugby tackled Harry and kissed him. The tears were back, and he wiped them away gently.

"Do you like it?" He asked.

I didn't even have to think about the answer "Of course I do, silly! I love it!" I said into his chest.

"Good" he replied, "I'm glad".

We took all our presents upstairs, and Harry offered to take "The Bag". I replied, "Well, only if your careful!" with a smile.

I could hear Anne starting the Christmas dinner. The turkey had been on the side in the kitchen defrosting for a few days now, and I had been waiting for Christmas dinner for months! My favourite part was the cranberry sauce.. It was just too yummy! Harry's favourite bit was the whole thing, but especially Yorkshire puddings – This was one of the first things he had told me when we were talking about last Christmas on one of our first dates.

As soon as we were upstairs I took the beautiful bag out of the box and started putting all my crap in there. Purse, makeup, sunglasses, phone and iPod were all stuffed in. I carried it carefully, making sure not to scratch it.

Before we left at lunchtime I decided to get my yoga mat out that I had bought from my house especially. I thought that I might as well do half an hour of yoga to make myself feel better about stuffing my face tonight. I spread the mat out, still in my pajamas and started stretching. My favourite poses were the Cat, Dog and Cobra. Just as I was getting into the Dog, where you put your feet and your legs at either end, and make a bridge shape, Harry burst in.

He paused.

"What ARE you doing?" He said, laughing.

I paused, inhaled, then crumpled on the floor, my face red "What does it look like I'm doing, baking a cake?" I said, laughing back at him.

At lunchtime we headed to my house to see my family and open more presents. My parents had bought Harry some cologne and clothes and had bought me a new Apple Mac laptop, which I had been asking for, for what seemed like years.

I opened the shiny laptop and turned it on. The home screen flashed up and the background was a dull picture of a flower. Harry was sitting between my legs, resting his head on my knee. I clicked "Photobooth" and told Harry to sit next to me. "Smile!" I said as I clicked the button. 3.. 2.. 1 the camera counted down. I smiled, but as soon as the counter had got to 1, Harry turned his head and kissed me on the cheek. I scrunched my face and laughed. The photo came out perfectly, and looked lovely. I put it as my background straight away.

Then came dinner at Harry's house. All his family where there and everyone was squished around the dining table. Drinks had started to flow at lunchtime, so everyone was pretty merry by 5:30pm. The kitchen was full of people trying to help and Anne was doing a great job with timings etc.

We pulled crackers and I got a key ring and Harry had got a bracelet, so we ended up swapping. He pulled the elastic of the plastic bracelet and snapped it on to my wrist. The plastic charms jangled against my Tiffany bracelet "Look – They look perfect together!" Harry said sarcastically, smiling. "Well, they'll have to just make friends, won't they?" It was nice that Harry could give me a Tiffany bracelet one day and then a plastic bracelet worth nothing and they would mean the same thing.

The food started to be bought from the kitchen and it smelt like heaven. The plates were piled high with food; there was turkey, stuffing, potatoes, vegetables, everything. We waited for everyone to sit down before we dug in.

Harry and I both had paper Christmas hats on, and mine kept falling over my eyes. This was what Christmas was about, not about presents, it was about family, and spending time with the people you love.

There were plenty of laughs and dinner was wonderful. When we had finished eating, Harrys grandfather set alight to the Christmas Pudding and everyone "Oooh'd" and "Ahhh'd" as the blue flames licked at the pudding.

Everyone crowded around the television and Harry was on the Turkey Sandwiches by 9:30pm. We watched The Royle Family, and everyone was in fits of laughter at "Come Fly With Me".

Harry was falling asleep on my shoulder by 11:00pm, so we decided to say goodnight and go to bed. We got to the bedroom, which was still covered in crap, wrapping paper, presents all over the bed and chocolate coin wrappers everywhere. We scooped the mess off the bed, dumped it on the floor and climbed into bed.

"Have you had a good day?" Harry asked, as I was changing into my new comfy pajamas.

"Of course I have, I've spent it with you.." I said shyly.

"Come here" He said, opening his arms wide.

I climbed into his warm, cozy cradle and closed my eyes and sighed.

"I am so tired" I said, yawning. I moved the covers over me and snuggled in close to Harry.

"Perfection was the only word that could describe today," I thought as Harry kissed my forehead. Absolute perfection.

Chapter 13

I woke late on Boxing Day, and struggled to get up at all. The room looked strange as I rubbed my eyes and sat up. My beautiful bag was on the floor, propped up by the bed. It was so pretty, so perfect. I couldn't help but smiling madly at it sitting there.

We both stayed in our pajamas all day and ate Turkey Sandwiches (with stuffing and cranberry sauce in them) for lunch. We headed out at around 3:00pm, still both in our pajamas. The boys were doing a gig in Scotland the next day, and I was getting ready to head back to the house in London.

We got to my house and straight away were stuffing boxes and panicking slightly. I was leaving the next morning, as were the boys who were meeting and heading up to Scotland by car.

I was throwing everything I could into the boxes; cuddly toys, CDs, bedding, hair products, perfume! I had to wrap most things in bubble wrap, which Harry found most entertaining. He sat there for at least 10 minutes popping the bubbles until I told him to get his arse in gear.

By 7:00pm we had everything sorted, 4 huge boxes were full with... stuff. The Courier man was arriving at 8:00pm to get there by tomorrow, and I would get the 3 hour train to London tomorrow morning.

"DING DONG" the doorbell burst out, just as we had sat down. I opened the door to find a man, in a jumpsuit with a clipboard. "Here for the Courier" he said, looking at his clipboard.

"Yeah, they're just upstairs, could you help bring them down?" I asked, sweetly. Harry was already struggling down the stairs with the first box.

He pushed passed me and huffed loudly. How rude? Harry was the one who had to do 2 trips up and down the stairs, bless him. I actually think he enjoyed showing off his "guns", as he liked to call them. Finally after 10 minutes of huffing and puffing, all the boxes were loaded into the van. "Thank you, and I'll be at the house around lunchtime," I said, signing the clipboard with the scrawl of my signature.

"I'll leave the boxes in the garage" He said, uninterested, climbing into the drivers seat. He slammed the door and sped off.

"How rude was that guy?" I said, laughing.

Harry surprised me by hugging me tightly "I can't believe this is all happening" he said.

"What do you mean?" I said quizzically.

"Just everything. Moving to London, doing gigs for hundreds of people… It's just crazy"

"I know, but this is how it's going to be from now on! No more working at the bakery anymore!" I laughed.

"I miss that bakery. That was a good bakery" He said, in a day dream.

We crashed on my bed minutes later, tired from the stress of packing. My room was almost completely bare, only the bed and dresser were left. All my clothes had been packed and it was strange that this wouldn't really be my home anymore.

The next day the alarm sounded early. 7:00am the clock blinked. Harry was up straight away because he needed to leave before me.

"Can you sort my hair out?" He said, coming out of the bathroom.

"Sure, sit" I pointed to the side of the bed.

I teased his wet hair and sprayed it with product.

"AAAAH MY EYES!" He screamed and rocked backwards, cupping his eyes with his hands. I had obviously sprayed the product a little too close to his face.

"Your such a baby!" I said, laughing at him. I grabbed my hair dryer and attached the diffuser. Harry and I were the "Curly Couple" of our group of friends. My strong blonde curly hair with his soft brown curly hair complimented each other perfectly. I finished his hair with just enough time for a quick makeout session, and then it was time for me to get ready. I was just getting in the shower as he said goodbye.

"I'll see you Wednesday!" He said, kissing me. I hugged him tightly.

"Wait, what are we doing for New Year?" I asked quickly.

"Never you mind! It's all sorted… I'll ring you later, yeah?"

"Yeah, bye!" I replied, kissing him again, but more passionately. His lips felt rough against mine as I put my hand through his damp hair.

"I'll miss you," He whispered in my ear. "I'll miss you too, have a good time" I replied, as he walked out the door.

I ran to the window to see him getting in the car, he was already on the phone. He got into the car and looked at me. His eyes were sparkling in the morning sun and he looked like an angel. He waved and blew a kiss. I waved and blew a kiss back, and then he was gone.

As I was walking to the station my phone buzzed. I took it out of my pocket and opened the text.

"Hey! How are you, my love? I miss you! Are you doing anything NYE? Come round ours, we're having a little shindig at mine. Speak soon – B xoxo"

Becca, she was a friend from London that I had met via Liam. We had become close throughout the live shows, because her and him had known each other since they were born, so she was always there to support him. I still had no idea what Harry had sorted for New Year.

The first thing I did when I was safely on the train was reply "Hey honey! Don't know what's planned for NYE, so will let you know asap. Yeah – We need to catch up! xxxxx"

The train was pretty quiet, but I would only be on for 15 minutes, then from Stockport to London Euston was 2 hours 40 minutes.

The train stopped at Stockport and I jumped off, the other side of the platform would be where the Manchester to London would come through.

"Perfect timing" I thought to myself as the train slid into the station.

I hopped on and found myself a seat. This was going to be a long journey. Luckily, the boys would still be traveling in the car, so I bought up the FaceTime icon on my iPod Touch.

I clicked Harrys contact information and it started to ring.

RING RING. RING RING. I heard in my ear.

It connected after a few seconds.

"Hey!" I said, trying to be as quiet as possible. There weren't many people around, but a few.

"Hey! Are you on the train?" Harry replied, looking at me.

"Yeah – I can't be too loud" I said, smiling.

All I could hear was laughing through my earphones.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing, Louis' being stupid" He laughed. It was nice to be able to see his beautiful face smiling and laughing.

"HEY SOPH!" Louis screamed, leaning into the shot.

"Hey!" I said back.

Harry switched the camera around so I could see the boys in the car "Say hi!" I could hear him saying in the background. They all waved and I waved back. Liam was asleep with his head resting on Zayn's shoulder.

He flipped the camera back around and we chatted for a while. "Becca invited us for New Years Eve, you know." I said.

"Oh really – Okay. Well we can pop in if you want."

He paused "What are you guys doing for New Years?" He said looking towards the boys.

"We're gonna stay together, yeah?" I heard Louis reply.

"Yeah – Okay. Can I text you?" He said, looking at me again.

"Yeah, sure. Speak to you soon" I said waving. He smiled and waved back.

I slumped back into my seat as I noticed 2 girls standing behind me giggling.

I turned my head and smiled back. "Was that Harry Styles?" One of them asked.

"Umm. Yeah!" I said, trying not to sound annoyed they were eavesdropping.

"OMG. How do you know him?" One of them asked, sliding into the seat opposite.

The other girl stood next to her. "OYMYGOSH. You're his girlfriend, aren't you? I recognize you from his TwitCam! OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH!" She started hyperventilating.

"Can we talk to him?" The other girl piped in again.

"Sorry girls, he's really busy right now. I wish I could help you!"

Both the girls looked at me and started pleading.

"Look, I can see if I can get him to follow you on Twitter, or something?"

They looked at me and both had huge grins on their faces. "OMG, that would be amazing!"

They both wrote down their Twitter names and handed me the piece of paper. The paper had 2 reply names on it "PoppyHeartsStyles and Harriet_Styles"

I looked at them and giggled "Hard-core fans, huh?"

"Yes! Ohmygosh. I can't believe we are really talking to you. You're like a proper celebrity. I love your bag BTW. Where did you get it? Can we have a photo?"

"Woah! Breath! One question at a time" I replied.

"Where did you get the bag from? It's beautiful." Asked the girl more calmly.

"It was a Christmas present" I replied.

"Who from?" She snapped back.

"My boyfriend" I said smiling.

"Oh - Anyway, can we have a photo?"

"Sure!" I replied, trying not to laugh at the two girls.

The girls disappeared down the carriage after they had snapped a few photos of each other standing next to me.

I knew Harry would never have time to follow them, so decided to log onto his Twitter and follow them myself. His password wasn't hard to forget. I tapped in "Sophie" and I was in.

His replies were crazy most of the time; every second there would be a new girl asking him to follow or tweet her. I typed in their names and clicked follow. They had already tweeted the photos with the caption "OMG. Just met Harry_Styles 's gf – She was lovely!" from 3 minutes ago.

They had already got replies from their own followers "Oh my god. Your so lucky" etc etc.

It would probably make their day that "Harry" had followed them, but I should probably let him know.

I typed out an essay of a text that was 2 pages long and sent it. I had a reply within seconds. Damn he was good. We had a competition on who could type the fastest – Team Blackberry (me) and Team iPhone (Harry), and he always seemed to win.

I set me phone down and stared out of the window. Trees and houses and roads flew by as we neared The City.

"The next station is London Euston" the tannoy called out. I collected my beautiful bag off my lap and threw all my things in.

I trotted to the door, just as it was opening. The biting breeze stung my face as I buttoned my oversized cardigan up. I walked out of the station and hailed a taxi. Just like that, I was on my way.

"Hampstead Heath, please!" I yelled to the driver.

"Sure thing." Replied the driver.

It was getting dark by the time the cab pulled up outside the house. I paid the driver and ran to the front door. My hands were freezing, and I was shaking just trying to get the key in the door.

Finally the key slid in and the door flung open.

I was just taking my coat off as I heard a noise in the living room.

Oh god.


	3. Chapters 14 and 15

Chapter 14

I jumped backwards toward the door and screamed.

There was a cool breeze flowing through the house and my heart was racing a million beats a minute. My heart felt like it was in my throat as I called out.

"Hello!"

Another loud bang rang through the house. I grabbed my phone out of my bag and dialed 999.

As the phone was ringing I opened the front door and ran towards the road. There was nobody and nothing around as someone answered on the other end of the phone.

"Hello, emergency services. What is your emergency?"

"Someone is in my house" I replied, shaking and stuttering.

"What's your address, miss?"

I gave the address and the woman assured someone would be there in a matter of minutes.

I looked back to the house, still dark and mysterious.

I could hear the sirens as I shivered violently. My jaw was convulsing as the police car stopped on the drive and a policeman jumped out.

"Stay right here, miss," he said calmly as he and his colleague walked up to the ajar front door. They disappeared inside the house and I could see one of their flashlights scanning the front living room.

I shivered again and started to sob. We had only been in the house a week, how could this have happened?

The policemen wondered out and headed towards me.

"You caught them just in time, there's only a few things missing out of the living room - looks like iPod and sound systems gone and a few other things too" he said, opening the passenger door and throwing his flashlight in.

"Do you want to come and have a look while we dust for fingerprints? See what's gone?" he said, calm as ever.

"Yeah, sure" I said, still with tears streaming down my face.

I entered the living room, shocked to find the place a state - there were things all over the floor, smashed vase with flowers scattered everywhere with a huge wet patch from the water. The sound system had gone, and the TV that was once mounted on the wall was propped against the coffee table. That would have been next if I hadn't walked in when I had.

I scanned the room again. "Where did they go? I didn't see anyone when I rung 999"

"Must have been the adjoining road on the other side if the fence in the garden. The back door has been jimmied in; we can get that sorted tomorrow. Is there anywhere you can stay tonight? Just so you feel a bit safer?"

"Umm.. Yeah, excuse me, I'll ring her now" I said, walking into the kitchen.

I dialed the first person I could think of that was nearby. Becca.

I found her number and pressed the call button.

"BABE! It's you!" she said as soon as she picked up.

"Becca, hey, I'm in a spot of bother. The house has been broken into. I don't know what to do Becks!"

"Oh my god! Oh my god, Soph, I'll come round right now! I'm on my way this second!" she sounded panicked as did I.

I could hear her running on the gravel of her driveway. "See you in about 10 minutes hun, I'm on my way!" the phone went dead.

I broke down, my head in my hands, resting on the countertop. Tears were streaming down my face and neck as one of the policemen walked into the kitchen "We've got a few prints off the television. Have you got somewhere to stay tonight?" he asked. "Yeah, she's on her way now" I said, still shell-shocked. The door opened and Becca was standing there looking around. "Don't touch anything Becks" I called out.

"Ohmygosh Soph! What's happened?" she said, walking in and hugging me,

"There's only a few things missing, nothing major" I replied.

"Oh good! Are they sorting everything out?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah, but I need somewhere to stay tonight, do you mind if I crash at yours?"

"Yeah! Of course! Let's go now!" I nodded and walked silently into the living room. "What do I need to do now?" I asked quietly. "If you hand over your keys to us, we can meet you back here at 10am to get everything sorted. We can board up the doorway and make sure everything secure etc" the policeman said, still dusting the tabletop.

"Okay, great." I said, handing the keys over "See you back here at 10ish. Thank you, by the way. You've been a great help!" I said, trying to sound grateful. "Just doing our job, love! Bye!" he replied.

I climbed into Beccas car and started to calm down by taking deep breathes.

I noticed the crowd of people at the end of the drive.

Oh shit. Paps.

I got out of the car and headed straight towards the crowd of 5 or 6 guys with cameras. Light bulbs started to flash.

"Guys! This is a private road! You need to leave right now!" I yelled. The bulbs stopped and I heard one of the guys reply. "Sorry Soph! Top news story for tomorrow! We've gotta try!"

"How do you guys know about what's happened?" I asked.

"Neighbor called in. Saw the blues and twos and tipped us off about the burglary".

Double crap. The story would be all over the papers tomorrow and Harry and the boys didn't even know!

As soon as I got in the car for the second time I dialed Harrys number.

"Hello? Soph, I'm busy in rehearsals.. Can I call you later?"

"Harry! Wait! The house has been broken into!"

He paused. I could hear him shouting at someone else "Wait! Something's happened!" I could hear him scream. Everything went quiet on the end of the line. "WHAT?" Harry shouted.

"The house. It's been burgled! There's not much missing but I bloody walked in on them!"

"Are you alright? Did you see them?" he said, sounding concerned.

"No. They ran out as soon as I got in" I replied.

"Oh my god, that's just what we need. Are you sure you're okay. Ahh, I wish I was with you"

"Me too. It's fine. I'm on my way to stay with Becca overnight. Everything should be sorted by tomorrow, can you just try to be back by 4 though, I don't want to be alone when it's dark, it kinda shook me up"

"Of course, I'll be there a.s.a.p. God, I love you so much. What would I have done if they hadn't just run out?" He paused.

"Can I call you later; things are a little chaotic here. I'll speak to you in a bit. I love you"

"I love you too, bye!"

The phone went dead.

"Are you okay?" Becca asked as soon as I put the phone down.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired." I replied.

"You can sleep in my bed tonight" she said, almost laughing.

"It better be a double Becca!" I replied, smiling.

"It is, it is!" she assured me.

Once we were at Beccas house I started to relax a little more. I had had no coat or anything and all I wanted was to climb into bed and sleep.

We both got into bed and started chatting. We hadn't seen each other since The Final so we had loads to catch up on.

"So, how are things with you and Harry?" she asked, quizzically.

"Really great thanks, he bought me a Tiffany bracelet for our 1 year anniversary!" I told her excitedly, holding out my wrist.

"Oh my god, it's beautiful! You've got a good'n there, Soph!"

"I know! And then he went an bought me a Chanel handbag for Christmas!"

She gasped.

"No fucking way! You're kidding me?"

"Nope! Look!" as I pointed to the magnificent bag sitting on the side table. Becca sprung up at picked the bag up gently.

"Oh. My. God." she said, still admiring.

"Isn't it beautiful?" I said, laughing.

"Oh my god, YES!" as she placed it down and climbed back into bed.

She turned the light off. "Night, Soph" She said yawning.

"Night, Becks" I said, even more quietly.

"Hopefully tomorrow would be better than today" I thought as we both lay there in silence.

The morning sun streamed through the window as Becca snored gently. My phone buzzed and roused Becca and she turned over. I picked my phone up. It was from Harry.

The email read:

_Listen to this 3_

It had an audio attachment. I clicked the link and the file downloaded. I pressed play and a song that I instantly recognized came on. It was mine and Harrys song. Free Fallin' by John Mayer. The sweet music played over the speakers on my phone. But the singer was definitely not John Mayer.

It was Harry.

And the boys.

It vibrated again; I closed the file down and read the new email. It was from Harry again.

_Just a little something to make you feel better. Did you like it? We had a go in a studio yesterday and didn't know what to sing, so I chose it for you. Hope you like it xx_

All I could do was smile, and I opened the file again to play the song. It was beautiful and I mouthed the words as they all sung. Harry's harmonies still gave me goose bumps as I grinned to myself.

I put my phone down and woke Becca up by shaking her arm and calling her name.

"Becca! Wake up, we've gotta go in half an hour!"

"SSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH" She said loudly.

"Come on, you!" I said, slapping the duvet.

I eventually got Becca up and out the door. We arrived at the house at bang on 10 o'clock and there was an unmarked police car in the driveway.

There were 2 the two policemen from yesterday sitting in the car. "Morning" one of the said as they got out of the car.

"Morning! Everything sorted?"

"Yes, the door was repaired this morning and all you'll have to do is claim on your insurance for the items that were stolen" He said, handing me the keys. I realized that my set of keys had loads of embarrassing key chains on them. There was a "Me to You" teddy from Harry and loads of other silly ones too.

The policemen left as I said goodbye to Becca.

"Thanks for last night Becks. I'll let you know about New Years eve.. God, it's only on Friday.. I'll let you know"

"Okay babes, no worries. Speak to you soon! Bye!" she said, waving and rolling away and down the driveway.

I opened the door went straight into the living room. The glass from the smashed vase had been cleaned up and the TV had been put back on the wall - The only thing significantly missing was the sound system that was once sitting on the side table, always with somebody's iPod in. I had a suspicion that it was Zayn's iPod that was stolen with the sound system; I would have to ask him when they got back.

My iPod buzzed in my pocket. It was a FaceTime call from Harry. I jumped onto the sofa just as I pressed connect.

"Hey!" I said

"Hey! You okay? Everything sorted?"

"Yeah, everything's fine. You might wanna let Zayn know that I think his iPod was stolen last night."

Harry looked away from the camera; they were traveling in the car.

"Hey, man, I think your iPods gone. I'm sorry." I heard Harry saying.

"DAMN IT!" Zayn shouted.

I pulled an upset face and Harry giggled.

"He'll get over it. We're on our way back by the way, should be home by 2ish"

I smiled, relieved.

"Good. I can't wait to see you all." I said, blushing.

"I can't wait to be home"

He said home. Our home. A little voice in my head scream HALLELUJAH!

"Me either" was all I could reply with.

Chapter 15

Harry and the boys arrived home at around 3:30, and were completely exhausted. They trundled in with their suitcases and dropped everything as soon as they walked though the door. Harry rugby tackled me and I didn't even have time to get on my feet.

"I love you" He whispered as he nuzzled my neck.

"I love you too" I said, as I kissed him as I ran my fingers through his soft hair.

"So… What's the damage?" Zayn said, walking into the living room and taking a seat.

"Sound system, your iPod I think, a few other things… Nothing major." I replied, still with Harry on top of me, kissing my neck.

The next day was New Years Eve and Harry still hadn't given away what we were doing for New Year, all he had said was too "Dress Up"... Whatever that meant.

I slipped into my gorgeous short, long sleeved French Connection dress and rummaged through the wardrobe for my black jacket. Harry walked in just as I was swiping some lipstick across my lips. He walked up behind me and wolf whistled as he pulled his grey cotton t-shirt over his head and threw it onto the bed. He stood behind me and slipped his arms around my waist. "You look beautiful," he said as I stared at our reflection in the mirror. We locked eyes and I smiled. Harry rested his chin on my shoulder; normally he would tower over me, because I was only 5"5 and he was around 5"10, but with heels on I just about caught up.

Harry grabbed my hand as we stepped out into the night. There was a huge group of us, Harry and I, Louis, Hannah, Zayn, Geneva, Niall, Liam and some other friends of Liam and Nialls.

We all walked to Hampstead tube station and jumped on the Northern line towards Embankment. The carriage was packed and there were only a few seats left. Harry took one of the seats and grabbed my waist as I perched on his knee. I entwined my fingers together around his neck and waited patiently for the stations to whizz by.

The atmosphere was electric with excitement for the coming New Year. Everyone was chatting and laughing and getting ready celebrate at 00:00am. I nearly ended up on the floor as the train shuddered and jolted from side to side.

"The next station is Embankment" The loudspeaker said. I got up from Harry's knee and untwisted my dress. The train slid into the station and everyone piled off as soon and the doors opened. As soon as we got to the top of the escalator everywhere was packed with people drinking, eating, laughing, dancing. It was crazy. I linked my arms through Harry's and Hannah's as we made our way through the sea of people. Harry guided the group towards the river edge and toward a huge boat that was docked opposite the London Eye. We climbed the steps and stopped by the security guard to collect out tickets. "So this is your little surprise then?" I said, nudging him.

"Yeah, welcome aboard the "Party Boat""He said laughing.

The boat was filled with merry partygoers and we made our way to the bar. Louis ordered drinks as he had his ID, and we found a table that just about fit everybody around.

The night flew by, and in no time the music started to blast through the speakers and everyone found themselves shouting over each other to be heard.

I kept checking my BlackBerry, and I had about a million unopened emails and texts by 11:45, all wishing me a Happy New Year. The counter started ticking; it was projected on the side of a building next to the London Eye. Everyone cheered and got their glasses of Champagne ready to toast. The counter got to 10 and everyone started to join in. Harry was standing behind me with his arms around my waist. 9.. 8.. 7.. 6.. Everyone shouted.

Big Ben was chiming "I love you" Harry shouted in my ear, just to be heard over everyone,

"5.."

"I love you too" I shouted back.

"4.. 3.. 2.. 1.. HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Everyone around us shouted and cheered.

The fireworks started and danced in the night sky. Everyone craned their necks to see them and they all looked up in awe.

Harry let go of me just as the firework had finished. I span around and kissed him.

"Happy New Year" I said, hugging him tightly.

As he broke the embrace someone stumbled into us, it was a girl; she was about 17 or 18. She flung her arms around Harry's shoulders "Hey baaaaby. Can I have a picture pleeease?" she slurred.

Harry hated being rude to his fans, and could never say no, so he was polite as ever and had a photo taken with her and her friend.

"Sorry about that" He said, hugging me again "I don't like saying no"

"I know, I know.. She was drunk as anything though" I said, laughing.

"Yeah, but so is Niall and Zayn" He said looking towards Niall, Louis and Zayn doing the conga around the boat and getting everyone to join in. They charged passed and grabbed both Harry and I, we joined in right behind Louis and Zayn and started snaking around the boat. One side of the boat overlooked the Thames, and the other overlooked Embankment, so the people who recognized the boys were all laughing and cheering as we all danced and laughed back.

Once we had finished "conga-ing" we collapsed on the seats around the table. I was exhausted and Big Ben chimed for 2am. We collected our things and headed across the bridge towards solid ground. Music was still blasting through the speakers and "Play That Funky Music" came on.

Harry's hand was in mine as we shimmied across the bridge swinging each other's arms back and forth. Louis was full on dancing by the time we had climbed down the stairs and everyone was laughing hysterically at his "Running Man" and "Cabbage Patch" dance moves.

The next morning I woke at 9:30am with the sound of my alarm beeping.

"TURN IT OFF, TURN IT OFF!" Harry shouted as I grabbed the alarm and pressed the dismiss button. I sighed and Harry was asleep again already. I tried to get back to sleep but couldn't, I tossed and turned but couldn't get comfortable again. I grabbed my laptop and switched it on, the "I'm-Turning-On" noise made me cringe as Harry's head was right next to my shoulder and he would shout at me again if I woke him, but he didn't stir.

I used Twitter most of the time because it was easier to update, but my real alliances were with a less popular know blogging site, Tumblr. I loved logging on and re-blogging all the cute, adorable, funny picture of the boys.

And the fans were so much more accessible than on Twitter; on Tumblr they all had their own personalities and you could learn so much about them just by their comments etc.

I loved showing Harry all the girls' pages, especially the friends I had made over the months, they were all so amazing with their kind comments and real love for One Direction and Harry.

There was Orlagh who reblogged the funniest things, and never failed to make me smile with her comments. And Hannah who was so lovely, I had even given her my BBM pin because we had become so close. There were hundreds more; Sarah, who I had become really close too, Louise and Leah, they all had their pages, and were all different and hilarious to read.

Harry loved to see the comments on the photos, some of them he would literally sit there and laugh at for a whole 5 minutes to himself.

I logged on and the home screen flashed brightly in the darkness. There was one post that I had seen a thousand times, but always made me chuckle to myself, it was named "If I met Harry, this is what will happen..", it was a series of gifs from different films and TV programs and as soon as I spotted it I started to laugh. I couldn't help myself, the last gif of Harry smiling and nodding his head and a caption of "Isn't that right, Harry?" was just too cute and too hilarious not to laugh at.

Harry flicked his eyes open "What are you laughing at?" He said groggily.

"This" I laughed, "Look" as I pointed to the screen.

He swiveled the laptop around and started to watch, and then he burst out laughing. "I can't believe I'm such a goon, I don't even remember that!"

I scrolled down and there was another photo of Harry on his 14th birthday, I tried not to laugh as I swiveled the laptop back around to face Harry.

"OH GOD! HOW DID THAT GET ON THERE?" He shouted, smiling.

"That is too funny, I bet it was Gemma or Mum" He added, puffing his pillows up. "I don't know, it's pretty damn funny though!" I said, still laughing.

"Oi, you! Stop laughing at little Harry, he was none the wiser at that age!" Harry said, looking hurt.

"Harry. You were 14. It wasn't that long ago!" I said, resting my head on his shouder.

"Well. I didn't realize how much of a international sex symbol I would become, did I?" He said, smirking.

It was supposed to be a joke.

"Just count yourself lucky you're the one being adored" I mumbled, looking down.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry replied.

I paused.

"There are hundreds of thousands of girls that would kill to be me" I paused again, sighing. "I'm the luckiest girl in the world."

Harry picked the laptop up and put it down on the floor. He took my hand and kissed each fingertip, he scattered kissed up my arm until he reached my neck. "I am the luckiest guy in the world, to have you" Harry mumbled into the dewy skin of my collarbone. His hands were entwined with mine as he straddled my hips. He raised our hands over my head and leant in. He paused and I could feel his hot breath against my cheek. The curtains were closed, and a strange sense of security flooded over me. The strangely lit room was nostalgic as Harry touched his lips to mine. His hands were cold as I slipped out of his tight grip and trailed my hands down his arms and over his back. "Sex symbol, huh?" I mumbled into his ear, smiling.

"Yeah, didn't you know?" He replied, with a laugh. I had already forgotten the reason why Harry was half naked and on top of me, but it didn't matter anymore.


	4. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

We heaved ourselves out of bed at around 12:30 but we were both still drowsy from the night before, and in all the excitement I had forgot to take my makeup off. This was a bad move as I realized that I had looked a complete mess all that morning. Mascara, eyeliner and glitter covered my face as I tried to scrub it off in the shower. I thought for a moment; whilst Harry was being all lovey-dovey, I had looked like Frankenstein's bride. But this somewhat gave me comfort that he loved me whatever, even in my natural state of no makeup on and my hair in a messy topknot.

That night we had planned to celebrate the New Year with drinks at a little wine bar in Central London. We arrived outside the small entrance and I was the only one who knew where we were going. It was one of the oldest bars in London, and from the outside looked a complete dump, but once inside it's charm and character flooded over everyone.

We all entered and found a table. The bar was located down in the underground caverns of London, and was cramped, hot and noisy, but everyone fell in love with it straight away. Candlelight flickered against every wall as people huddled around tables chatting and enjoying themselves.

"We are so coming here again!" Louis said, looking around.

"Yeah, it's cute isn't it?" I replied as Harry set a tray of full wine glasses down on the sticky table.

Conversation and laughter filled the bar and drinks flowed all night long.

"I love yaaa," Harry slurred whilst finishing off his 5th glass of wine.

"I love you too" I tried not to laugh at him.

We were all pretty merry after the 6th round of drinks and I noticed that Harry was absent from the table; I looked around and spotted him in the corner with a girl. She was close to him as their bodies touched. He was laughing at something she had whispered in his ear. She laughed back and pulled out her phone. She was gorgeous with poker straight chocolate brown hair and long limbs; she could have been a model. She was a little taller than Harry as she touched his arm and laughed again. Her legs looked infinite from where I was sitting. He took the phone from her and typed something in and gave it back. Her long, manicured fingers grasped the phone as she slipped it into her bra under her strapless black dress. I could see Harrys wondering eyes as she thrust her chest towards him.

I looked at him, furious. I was fuming as I got up and headed to the bar on the opposite side of the pub.

I could see Harry was drunk by the way he carried himself and slurred his words. He headed back to the table as Louis stood up and grabbed a fistful of Harrys t-shirt by the collar. He pointed in my direction as he said something into his ear. Louis was like a big brother to me, and was clearly upset with Harry after seeing exactly what I had seen.

"She's such a fucking drama queen sometimes" I could hear Harry say to Louis. I turned back and Louis gave me a sympathetic look.

Hannah got up from the table and whispered in my ear "Girl's bathroom, now"

I followed her into the cramped bathroom, tears streaming down my face.

"He's such a fucking idiot when he's drunk" I cried into a wad of toilet paper.

Hannah hugged me "I know, babe, but you've just got to talk to him about it"

"HANNAH! He was practically dry-humping that slut! What am I going to do?"

"C'mon, let's go. I'll text Louis to say we're going, they'll understand" She replied. I loved Hannah, she was always thinking ahead.

"Okay - Lets go!" I said, pulling my jacket on.

I hadn't got my bag so headed back towards our table. Harry was sitting next to Louis with a smirk on his face, acting as if nothing was wrong. He stared at me as I grabbed my bag "Happy fucking New Year, Harry" I said, turning my back and walking out with Hannah by my side.

We stepped into the dark, wet night and was instantly soaked from the pouring rain. We ran towards the main road, holding hands. We jumped into a cab and we were on our way. The taxi ride was silent, with me lost in my own thoughts and Hannah busy texting Louis.

The taxi stopped abruptly as the taxi driver tutted and turned around, facing us.

"Road's flooded girls - How far is your place? Could you walk?"

I thought for a minute. "It's just down the road, c'mon, let's walk," I said to Hannah.

We jumped out of the car and straight into the flooded road. It was up to my ankles as we waded though. The taxi lights disappeared and we were in total darkness. Hannah and I were laughing because we looked so ridiculous, but then I heard a car stop behind us. Harry and Louis jumped out.

"Soph! Sophie! Wait!"

It was Harry and Louis, running through the curtain of rain. The rain was torrential and all 4 of us looked like drowned rats.

"Hey" Harry looked towards the ground.

I turned my back and starting to walk away.

"Wait!" Harry snapped, grabbing my arm. I flung by arm forwards, ignoring him.

"Stop! This is ridiculous!" He shouted, walking after me.

"Ridiculous?" I screamed, turning around and facing him "You think _this_ is ridiculous? What about you and that girl? That was pretty ridiculous too!" I shouted over the rain.

Hannah was still by my side. She hugged me, took Louis' hand and started walking towards the house, leaving Harry and I silent in the pouring rain.

"I'm sorry" I could hardly hear him over the rain hitting the houses, pavements and cars.

"Sorry isn't good enough, Harry" I screamed at him. My hair was sticking to my face and neck. Rain spilled into my eyes as everything went blurry. I could see Harry shivering with just a t-shirt on.

"You embarrassed me in front of everyone!" I screamed again. He just stood there and took it. He didn't smile or cry, he just stood there, emotionless.

"Well say something then!" I said, at least the rain made my tears invisible. Harry came towards me, his face still baron of emotion.

He grabbed my waist and I laid my hands on his chest and pushed him away. "Don't… Don't just come here and apologize and think everything's going to be okay, because it's not! You're the most amazing person I have ever met, and I love you with all my heart, but what you did tonight was not okay" I shouted over the sound of the pouring rain.

"Nothing happened, Soph," He said, looking at me right in the eye. Rain ran down his jaw and dripped on his already soaking t-shirt.

The wind and rain whipped around us and howled. "I love you more than anyone or anything and I would do anything for you. That girl… She meant nothing"

"But Harry, you don't understand." I struggled to breathe and get the words out "You think that everything is perfect, and you make _me_ believe that everything is perfect, but it's not, and you and I both know it. You're going to be touring the country, and traveling the world and then there's me… "The Girlfriend""

I took a deep breathe.

"I miss you every time you walk out the door and I can't do anything about it. This is your life now, Harry. We either make this thing work or we don't. You need to decide what you want." I was still struggling to get the words out.

He looked at me, on the verge of crying.

"I love you, Sophie. I never, ever want to lose you. I want us to grow old together. I want us to have children together; I want to share my life and my dream with you. The only one I want is you."

I was shaking uncontrollably. "Harry, is this really what you want though? If we do this, if we really do this we have to trust each other 100%. I can't let you go to Los Angeles and hear about the things you get up too and have to worry that you're cheating on me"

"I would never" He interrupted.

"That's the thing though. Anybody could have taken a photo of you and that girl, and what would I think? I wouldn't be there, so I wouldn't know. Do you really love me enough to try and make it work?"

He paused. Lighting flashed and thunder rumbled across the sky.

"Do you love me enough?" I repeated.

"Of course I love you enough" He said quietly.

"Prove it. Tell me why. Tell me why you and I should put ourselves through the pain of a long distance relationship. Tell me why you love me."

The rain beat down harder and harder on my head, shoulders and body.

"Fine." He paused, collecting his thoughts.

"I love you because whenever we're together you make me the happiest person on this planet. I love you because you kink you're eyebrow when you're trying to be cute. I love you because you quote Shakespeare, even though I've never actually seen you read, and that you miss your parents but you'll never ever admit that."

He paused again.

"And because we're both going to get pneumonia," He held his arms up and looked around at the rain "but if you need to hear why I love you…"

He looked at me.

"I can go on all night"

I stood there, not knowing what to say or do.

"Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds. It is an ever fixed mark that looks on tempests and is never shaken. Love alters not with time's brief hours and weeks, but bears it out even to the edge of doom" He said, with a small but distinctive smile.

It was one of my favourite Shakespeare quotes.

"I love you, and my life wouldn't be worth living without you. You complete me," He added as he walked towards me.

At first I thought of pushing him away again, but I loved him far too much to do that to him. He enveloped me in his cold, wet arms as we hugged, fitting together like 2 jigsaw pieces.

We stood in the pouring rain, crying into each other's shoulders. Emotion seeped out of every pore all over our bodies. We were exhausted.

We stood in each other's arms for what seemed like a lifetime before we finally made our way back to the house. We were shivering as we both stripped down in the huge tiled hallway. I ran upstairs and bought down some towels. Hannah and Louis were already asleep on the sofas huddled against each other.

We dried ourselves off in silence, neither of us knowing what to do or say next.

Harry wrapped my in a towel and enveloped me in his arms once again. Actions spoke way louder than words with Harry. He was never "good" with words when he needed to be.

We settled down on the sofa, still in silence… Still in shock of what had just happened. I settled into the space between Harry's body and his arm and rested my head on his collarbone. I could feel and hear his heart beating as we sat in silence. My eyes totally glazed over as I was in my own world.

Bud-um. Bud-um. Bud-um.

The rhythm made me sleepy like a baby in its mother's womb. I closed my heavy eyes and listened again.

Bud-um. Bud-um. Bud-um.

"Sophie" My eyes flickered open "Hey Soph, wake up"

Harrys voice filled my head. "Errrrrrrrgh. What's the time?" I grumbled.

"4:30" Harry replied, rubbing his eyes. The room was dark and empty with just one lamp on.

I sat straight upright and leaned in to Harry. We were both still half asleep but before we knew it I was straddling him on the sofa, each of my legs were either side of his body and he had his hands on my waist. I tugged at his red polo shirt as it slipped off effortlessly over his head. His muscles rippled and I couldn't help but admire his body. He wasn't as fit as Liam or as skinny as Louis, but he was perfect. He didn't have a "6 pack" or bulging muscles but he made me melt inside every time he took his shirt off in front of me. He still gave me butterflies every time he muttered in my ear that he loved me and I knew that nobody loved him as much as I did. Emotions were still raw as we hurriedly kissed. He was perfect, we were perfect, and everything was almost perfect.


	5. Chapter 17, Part 1

Chapter 17

I jumped in my sleek black Mercedes convertible, and pressed the button to put the roof down. The hot sun beat on my face as I stretched to open the glove box. I took my Ray Ban aviators out and balanced them daintily on my nose. The noise of crickets always made me feel like I was on holiday, but this had been my home for the last year. I was excited to see Harry and the boys. They had been away on a world tour.

The strain it had took on our relationship was hard, but we battled through and we were now all relieved it was over. We would talk every day via Skype or email, and I had met them in Australia and the Middle East, just to get a taste of the sort of fame One Direction were now experiencing years after The X Factor had finished.

Louis was still with Hannah, and all 5 boys were living the LA lifestyle after we all made the decision to move to California. It was a big step, moving away from all our families and everything we had ever known, but we knew it was the best thing for One Direction, as a band.

We all lived near to each other, Zayn in a penthouse apartment, Harry and I in a Spanish-style Villa, Liam and his girlfriend of a year Sarah and Louis and Hannah, we all lived around the corner from each other. Niall lived a little further away on his own in a beach house near Malibu, he grew a passion for surfing after our first lessons in LA.

I pulled up outside LAX and waited patiently, sitting on the bonnet of my car. There were few people milling around as the automatic doors slid open. There he was, my beautiful, gorgeous fiancé.

He dropped all his bags and ran straight towards me. I was elated to be in his arms after so long. He lifted me and spun me round. "Oh my gosh, I love you" he said, with a cheeky grin on his face.

"I've missed you SO much" I said into his ear, almost unable to speak.

It had been 3 long months since I had waved the boys off from this very spot. There were tears and kissing and hugging all around, and it took me weeks to adjust to not having Harry around.

I had flown to Sydney to meet them all as they were there promoting their second album.

The second night I was still so jetlagged, but Harry had organized a private Bridge Climb up the Sydney Harbor Bridge. The night was balmy as we approached the top of the bridge; the views were breathtaking as I snapped pictures of the both of us. As we climbed to the very top Harry took my hand in his.

"Look!" He said, in to my ear. He pointed in to the distance to a small plane approaching towards us. It was high in the sky and had a banner attached to the back of it.

I couldn't quite read the writing, but as the plane approached I could make out my name.

I could hear the whir of the plane as it passed right in front of us.

SOPHIE – WILL YOU MARRY ME? HARRY

A smile crept across my face.

"Will you marry me?" He said quietly.

I buried my face in to his chest, unable to speak. I was taken aback. I had no idea.

He pulled a box from his jacket pocket and flipped it open. Memories of the ring he gave me all those years ago came flooding back. His mothers ring still pride of place on my finger.

It was absolutely breathtaking. The huge diamond ring shimmered in the moonlight. I couldn't speak as I quietly mouth the word "Yes". Harry slipped the ring on my engagement finger and it fitted perfectly. Words couldn't describe the emotions I felt that night.

But then I was back; Harry threw his cases into my car and jumped into the drivers seat. "I can't wait to get you home" He said, cheekily, putting his hand on my thigh. We sped off and took the scenic route home, enjoying the cool breeze cooling us from the hot LA weather.

The months that we were in Los Angeles, I had set up my own company, which was doing pretty well.

The wedding was only a couple of weeks away and nerves and excitement filled the house. There were constantly people coming and going, flower arrangements, catering; everything had to be sorted weeks and even months beforehand.

As we arrived at the house, Hannah's car was parked outside, and she was sitting in her car, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel. She jumped out and shouted across the driveway "Finally! I've been here for the last 20 minutes!"

"Sorry Han! We came back the scenic route!" I shouted over, laughing.

"Yeah, I bet you did" She said, following us to the front door.

The house was huge but homely. It felt right as a house for Harry and I, it had character; it wasn't just another celebrity mansion that you knew they never spent any time in.

The pool glistened in the afternoon sun as the temperature cooled slightly. It was now bearable to sit outside, so we pulled chairs up to the table and began chatting. Hannah and Sarah were my unofficial wedding planners, and they were great at what they did. The wedding was supposed to be a classy affair, no "L plates" on the hen night, and no getting drunk at the reception. The 2 sides of the families had already started to arrive in preparation for the wedding, and were currently out shopping for dresses and hats etc. I looked at Harry, blissfully unaware with his eyes closed. He and I had grown up so much in the last 5 or 6 years. One Direction had topped the chart both sides of the Atlantic and were now one of the best-known boy bands in the world.

We were both in our 20's and _getting married_. It was crazy to think how far everyone had come. Harry was no longer a boy… He was a man. He still had his recognizable mop of hair, just more… manly, I guess.

We both got recognized in the street everywhere we went, but it was something we both had got used too.

The weeks with Harry back passed in the blink of an eye, and before I knew it, it was the day before the wedding. "PARTY TIME!" Hannah shouted down the phone to me that night. "Yes, Hannah. What time are you picking me up?" I replied, getting dressed.

"Around 9ish. Is that okay?" She said.

"Yeah, that's fine. See you in a bit. Byeeeee" I put the phone down and finished zipping my dress up.

Harry walked in and eyed me up and down. "Someone's looking hot tonight," He said, grabbing my waist.

"Well, take a long hard look, because the next time you'll see me is in a big white dress, walking down the aisle" I said, poignantly.

"Oh shit, yeah. I forgot about that." He replied, pulling me closer towards him.

I rolled my eyes.

He kissed my bare neck and ran his finger down from my ear to my collarbone.

"I haven't got time for whatever you're thinking might happen next, Styles," I said, pulling away.

He sighed. "Well, it was worth a try,"

"Tomorrow, you'll be Mrs. Styles, you know that, right?" He added, laughing.

"Yes of course I bloody know that!" I replied, grabbing my bag off the bed.

"I'll see you tomorrow" I said, kissing him passionately on the lips.

"I'll see you tomorrow" He mirrored.

"Future Mrs. Styles" he added.

I turned my head and smiled broadly at him. "Shh" I put my finger to my lips "You're making me nervous" and I was out the door.

The evening was still balmy and it was nice not to worry about a jacket as I slipped into the passenger side of Hannah's car.

"You ready?" Hannah asked as she started the engine.

"As I'll ever be," I replied. I couldn't stop smiling all the way to the club; just thinking about Harry being my husband still gave me butterflies.

We stopped abruptly and Hannah handed the car keys to the valet. We walked in to find every single bit of available space crammed with friends, family, pretty much everyone I knew. My mum was there; Anne and Gemma were there, all my friends, new and old. Some from school, some that I had made while in LA. We partied in to the night, with thankfully no strippers in sight and had an amazing evening. I was staying at Hannah and Louis' house, and getting ready there. We were back by 12:30am, as I hated having late nights, especially when I was **getting married **the next day. It still felt strange saying it… Getting married.


	6. Chapter 17, Part 2

Chapter 17, Part 2

I woke early the next morning with the sound of birds tweeting by the window. A smile spread across my face as I realized what today was. I spotted my beautiful dress hanging elegantly on the hanger. It was ivory white, and looked like something out of a Disney princess film.

I pulled the covers back and stretched. I walked to the bathroom and checked my phone; there were 72 unread emails, all confirming orders, or congratulations for today.

There were also 17 texts all received overnight. I scrolled through; all 17 were sent from Harrys phone. The first read

"See you tomorrow, babe. I can't wait xxxxxxx"

I scrolled up; they became more and more illegible as the time stamp got later and later into last night.

By 4:37am, the last text I had received, the message said "I lapoce yuoixxxxx". Drunken Harry and touch-screen iPhones obviously did not mix well.

I noticed one of the earlier texts had a photo attachment; I opened it, not knowing what to expect. It loaded and the photo was of Harry and Louis in a fountain, soaking wet with 2 whiskey bottles in their hands.

I sighed; relieved it wasn't of strippers or something even worse.

Someone knocked at the door, "Come in!" I shouted. The door opened as Hannah and a glam-squad of 5 other girls came wondering in. Each stranger had boxes of makeup, hair products and tools. I looked at them strangely, squinting my eyes.

"We're here to make today as stressless as possible," A small blonde girl chirped in. Hannah was smiling at me; she knew this was my idea of hell.

I jumped in the shower, relieved to be out of the next room where the gaggle of girls cooed over me at every opportunity.

Hours later I was ready. Hair and makeup looked surprisingly… perfect. Hannah would never let me leave the house if I looked like an overdone clown.

I was nervous as I checked my phone for the millionth time. [1] New Message received. It was from Harry, thank god.

"See you there, Mrs Styles xxxx" It read. I breathed a sigh of relief.

I climbed into the silver Rolls Royce that was waiting outside of the house. Hannah and Sarah looked gorgeous in matching bridesmaid's dresses, Hannah's was short and flowing, and Sarah's was short and long sleeved, both the same colour. I didn't want them to look too matchy-matchy.

The church was a 30-minute car journey from the house and we arrived on time. I stayed in the car as Hannah and Sarah jumped out to check it was okay and that Harry wouldn't see me.

They disappeared behind the huge oak doors and minutes later Hannah appeared, running towards the car.

She had a look or guilt on her face. She opened the door and slid in beside me.

"He's not here" She said quietly, a look of despair on her face.

"Wh-what do you mean he's not here?" I stuttered.

"He told Louis he would meet him here an hour ago, but he hasn't showed. I'm so sorry, Soph"

I was in total shock. Unable to function I fumbled for my phone.

Speed dial #1. Harry.

"The person you have called is not available. Please try again later."

I dropped the phone on my lap. This couldn't be happening.

I was upset, but furious. What was I going to do? Tears dripped down my neck without me realizing.

"He's left me" I said, emotionless.

"Maybe there's another explanation, you don't know that." Hannah comforted me.

I shook my head. Surely he wouldn't do that to me.

I spotted Louis out of the corner of my eye, running towards us.

"Hey! Guys! It's Harry, he's been in an accident!" Louis sounded upset, almost crying.

"Oh my god" I said, "What's happened?" Tears still rolling down my cheeks.

"I don't know, something to do with a car when he was on his way here"

I couldn't breathe. I felt weak and drowsy. I had to concentrate on Louis' face to stop myself from passing out.

"This can't be happening" I said to myself.

We arrived at the hospital and I ran in front of the others.

"Patience name?" The woman on reception asked.

"Harry, Harry Styles" I replied, shaking. My beautiful dress dragged on the dirty hospital floor as we followed the doctor.

He turned into a small room, Room 289 it read on the door. I was expecting the worst. I imagined tubes coming in and out of him, and ventilators and life support machines but there he was, sitting upright, eyes shining in the fluorescent lights above his head.

I ran to his side, sobbing.

"Hey, hey!" He said, putting his arm around me.

"What's with the tears?" He asked.

"I thought you where dead, you idiot!" I said, looking at his head. His hair was red and sticky, and his head was wrapped in gauze and tied at the side.

"Soph! Soph!" Everything went blurry.

"Hey! Wake up sleepy head!" It was Harrys voice.

My eyes flipped open. The emotions that I felt were indescribable. I was elated at the realization that it was all just a dream. Real tears were streaming down my face.

Harrys perfect face smiled down on me.

"Hey" Was all I could say.

"Hey to you too, what's with the tears?" He replied, cupping my face in his hands. I had a strong sense of Déjà vu.

"I had the weirdest dream" I said, moving closer to him. Smiling, I didn't know whether to tell him everything, or keep it too myself.

"Oh, me too actually. Me and Louis were power-rangers," He said, deadly serious. I laughed, relieved to be back to reality.


	7. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Harry stepped out of the bathroom with just a towel wrapped around his waist. "What are we doing today, then?" He asked, drying his hair with another towel.

"Well – I don't know about you, but I'm staying right here to watch you get dressed" I said with a cheeky smile, checking him up and down.

"I'm sorry to inform you that sadly that will not be possible" He said, leaning in and kissing me. He was such a tease when he wanted to be. I couldn't take it any longer; I grabbed his neck and a handful of hair and pulled him on top of me.

"You know we can hear you all the way down here!" Came a voice from down the stairs. Even with the door shut the walls still felt like paper. "Shhhhhh!" I said in to Harrys shoulder, I put my fingers to his lips and felt his hot breathes against my cool finger.

We were all going out for lunch that day, and Liam said he was bringing "someone" along. Harry said he had been texting some girl that he had got her number off of outside the studios. I was excited to meet her, whoever she was.

We arrived at the restaurant and Liam and his "friend" where already seated at the table. I didn't mention it, but I had spotted them first through the window, and they _had look a lot cozier_ than when we walked in, if you get my drift. Liam introduced her to everyone "Hi guys, this is Sarah". As soon as I heard the name I nearly fell over. My faded dream flashed in my memory, her name was definitely _Sarah_, or Zara, or something.

"Oh my gosh" I said, not thinking.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, pulling out my chair.

"I had a dream and you were with a girl name Sarah, Liam!" I said, excitedly, still not thinking.

"What happened?" Liam asked, smiling.

"Well, Harry and I were getting married, and your girlfriend, Sarah was my bridesmaid!"

Damn it. I always spilled the beans at the wrong moment. Everyone looked round at me like I was crazy.

"You had a dream? And you and Harry got married? And Sarah was your bridesmaid?" Louis paused "You sound like a crazy woman, Soph" looking at me strangely.

"I know it sounds weird, but I swear to god"

"Please excuse my psychotic girlfriend, she's a few sandwiches short of a picnic" He laughed and sat in the seat next to me.

"Oi!" I poked him in the arm, hard. "I'm sorry for my _very rude_ boyfriend, I'm Sophie" I extended my hand out toward her. She was _so_ pretty, and had piercing blue-grey eyes. You could tell why Liam had bought her to meet all of us. She had her hair in a messy ponytail and sat close to Liam. She wore a short floral dress and looked amazing. I peeked at her footwear under the table. You could always learn a lot about a person from their footwear. She had black ankle, military style boots on and they complimented her dress well.

I picked the menu up and everyone started to chat. My stomach rumbled softly as I flipped through the shiny menu. I yawned, feeling suddenly exhausted. I never normally felt like pepperoni, but ended up choosing an Americano pizza when the waiter came and took our order.

The table was full of chatting and laughs, and Louis ended up falling on the floor as Zayn pulled his chair out when he returned from the toilets. The whole restaurant laughed as he picked himself up and brushed himself down.

I could see our food being bought from the kitchen and suddenly regretted the American when it was placed in front of me. I pushed the plate towards Harry, excusing myself.

I trotted to the toilets and ran straight for a cubicle, luckily with nobody around. I breathed heavily, looking into the pan of the toilet. The water glistened in the overhead spotlights of the toilet.

I composed myself without actually being sick, and spend another 5 minutes with my head in my hands, leaning over the sinks. Thoughts ran through my head, and the room was spinning by this point. My forehead was clammy and I looked a mess as I tried to concentrate on my reflection in the mirror.

Was it a virus? A bug? A bad egg in my omelet this morning? Or was it something more… Permanent?

I looked at myself in the mirror. Was this really happening? What was I going to do?

I returned to the table, half of my pizza already devoured by somebody.

"Hey! Who ate all my pizza?" I asked, looking around.

"Niall. He was hungry, and you didn't exactly look too pleased about your choice a few minutes ago!" Louis replied.

"You okay?" Harry asked quietly, with his hand on my thigh.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just came over a bit funny. Must have been something I ate" I replied, trying not to worry him.

The next day the house was quiet, with nobody around. The boys had decided on some "quality time together", so I had some time to think about yesterday.

Could I really be pregnant? When could it have… Happened? I was on the pill but we were always so careful with things like that.

I walked into the study, switching on the shared Apple Mac. As soon as the home screen popped up, I clicked Safari. Then Google.

"Chances of getting pregnant on the pill" I typed in to Google.

_About 393,000 results (0.14 seconds)_

I scrolled through, clicking on each appropriate link. There was one website.

_The chances of getting pregnant on the pill vary from 96% to 99%, but it is possible._

My heart started to race. _It is possible_ I thought.

I picked up my phone, my hands hot against the sleek keys.

"Harry. I need to talk to you"

"Soph, what's happened?" He replied, worried.

"Please just come home, now" I said, shaking.

"Okay. Don't worry; I'll be there in about 20 minutes. I love you"

"I love you too"


	8. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Harry burst through the front door, I could heart it swing back and hit the wall loudly.

"Soph?" He yelled.

"Up here!" I said back, sitting on the end of the bed.

His footsteps on the stairs were close together, a sense of urgency hung in the air as he appeared at the door.

"What's wrong?" He asked, coming towards me.

"We need to talk," I said blankly.

"About what? What's happened?" He answered, still panic in his voice.

"Please don't freak out. Please Harry, I'm begging you" I started to sob.

"Please don't be angry with me, I couldn't bare it" I rambled.

"Shh. Don't be stupid. Just tell me," He said, cradling me in his strong arms.

I swiped the trickle of tears away. I couldn't bring myself to say the words.

"I think I might be pregnant" I said, there was no other way to put it. No other words could describe what was happening.

He fell silent, looking at me with his eyes glazed over. His eyes twinkled as he blinked quickly.

"Pregnant?" He said quietly.

"Yeah" Was all I could reply.

"Oh." He replied.

We fell silent again.

"Well do you know for sure?" He asked again, I could almost hear his mind swimming with thoughts.

"No. But I wanted to tell you straight away; I don't want to hide anything from you Harry. We promised not to hide anything." I began to cry again, confused and emotional.

"No, I know. It's just a shock, we're only 17, Soph," He said, making me cry uncontrollably.

"I know Harry, I don't even know what happened." I replied in-between sobs, tears dripping on my t-shirt.

"Look. There's no point in getting upset. You don't even know if you are or not yet" He smiled. Just that small moment between us made me feel better about the whole situation.

We walked to the chemist around the corner, our fingers entwined. I wasn't happy, but I wasn't sad or upset either.

I picked up 2 pregnancy tests, and then picked another one up just incase.

As soon as we got back to the house, I disappeared into the toilet. I set the 3 tests on the counter, waiting intently for the screen to show any sign of life at all.

Time seemed to pass slowly, but one by one, the tests all showed the same result.

I opened the door to find Harry leaning against the doorframe, waiting patiently.

A smile crept across my face. I didn't say anything, just held the 3 tests up.

**Not Pregnant**

**Not Pregnant**

**Not Pregnant **

Harry smiled back, relief swept across the both of us like a tidal wave, pulling us both in. Waves of emotion immersed us both in our embrace. He grabbed my waist and kissed me.

"Just so you know, if they were positive, I would have been just as happy"

I knew he was lying.

"No you wouldn't!" I said, smiling.

"I would, our baby would be the most precious, amazing thing in my life, other than her beautiful mother, of course"

"Yeah right" I said, snorting, "You would have freaked!"

"Well.. We don't need to worry anymore, do we?" He smiled into my ear.

Harry would be the most amazing dad… I just knew it.

_But with us only being 17, it was stupid to even think about us being parents… Maybe one day though. _I thought to myself quietly.


	9. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Harry kissed me gently on the forehead as I opened my eyes.

"Hey" He said quietly.

"Hey" I replied, stretching and looking around the room.

"Before you start planning our day, I'm going to take you out" He said, smirking.

"Oh really?" I replied, smiling back.

"We're going to do something normal. No paps, no drama. Just a normal couple-y thing that 17 year old should be doing"

"Mmm, sounds good" I said into his chest.

I smiled. He was making an effort to keep things as normal as possible since last week's drama.

"What are we doing?" I added.

"I'm taking you on a picnic" He said, almost laughing.

"A picnic?" I looked up and out of the huge window. The curtains had been opened slightly and orange sun streamed down and puddled on the floor.

"Well. I'm trusting you completely with this, Styles" I teased playfully.

"Don't you worry! I got Louis to help me with the sandwiches last night" He said, climbing out of bed.

"I'll be giving them a miss, then!" I said, laughing.

"Harry" I said, wanting to get his attention.

"What?" He turned around, facing me. His face was serious.

"I love you" I said quietly, smiling.

"I love you too" He replied, walking back toward the bed. He cupped my face in his hands and kissed the tip of my nose lightly. Then he turned away and headed downstairs. He was so sexy and adorable without realizing.

Seeing him in his sweat pants and favourite grey hoodie, he was relaxed and comfortable. I would have him in that over a suit and tie any day.

I came downstairs and was greeted by Zayn making breakfast. Harry was sitting on a stool, leaning on the breakfast bar as he swirled his cereal around in the bowl.

I stood behind him and snaked my arms around his body. I rested my chin on his shoulder as he lifted the spoon full of Cheerios over his shoulder and into my mouth.

"And that's how Sophie, C's it!" I said, mimicking Sue Sylvester I put my hand into the shape of a C.

"What?" Harry replied, also with a mouth full of Cheerios.

"Glee? Cheerios?" I said, swallowing the soggy cereal.

He looked at me blankly and laughed.

"What are you _on_?" Zayn replied smiling. He was whisking a huge bowl of eggs together; there must have been at least 14 in there.

Harry had told me to get dressed and wear a coat. I stepped into the sunlight and slipped my sunglasses on. My hair crazily flew in the biting wind. Harry took my hand as we strolled towards Hampstead Heath Park. I would sometimes go jogging around the park, but I hadn't seen the sun shining this way for months. It was one of the first days since summer that the sky was cloudless, although cold, it was nice to just take a walk and have time to talk.

We got to The Heath. It was like a little haven located in the middle of one of the busiest cities in the world. London was so hectic most of the time, The Heath made memories of the Cheshire countryside come flooding back for both of us. Some days at home, before all of this, Harry and I would just go for walks. No interruptions, no nothing.

But at that time, to every passer by, he was the guy who worked at the bakery.

We found a spot at the top of a hill, it overlooked the lake and the water glistened in the low, deep orange winter sun.

It was 1:30, but the sun was already dimming ever so slightly. Harry and I chatted over sandwiches, pasta and soup, that was in a huge flask. He handed me the plastic cup, steaming over my face. I sipped the creamy liquid; it slipped down my throat, warming my insides.

I handed the cup back and shivered.

"I'm cold," I said quietly, looking for my bag.

"Do you wanna go back?" Harry asked, collecting everything up and placing it in the wicker basket.

"No, can we just walk a bit? I'll warm up if I keep moving" I said, getting up from the cold ground.

We stumbled down the hill, almost tumbling down a few times, and then we finally arrived at the waters edge. The sun hung low in the sky, and was bright in my eyes.

Harry picked a few stones up and threw them with his right arm. They skimmed the top of the surface 4 or 5 times, before plunging into the abyss of blue and green water.

I bent down and picked a rounded flat rock up and mimicked Harry throwing it, although it did not skim, it plopped straight into the water, about a meter away from us.

Harry laughed picked up another one, he stood behind me and put the stone in my hand.

"Like this" He said over my shoulder.

His hand covered mine as he bought both our arms back and then forward again, I let the rock go and it flew towards the water. It hit the water and bounced up again, and again, until it finally disappeared.

"There you go!" Harry exclaimed triumphantly.

"I have good tuition," I said, wrapping my arm around his waist. We walked together along the waters edge, content with the day.

"How many are coming on Friday?" I asked; Zayn was turning 18 so we had organized a surprise birthday party at the house. We had invited all his friends from Bradford to come down to London.

"I don't really know, Liam's supposed to be organizing the whole thing, probably 60 or 70, including everyone else's friends too" He replied, almost in his own world of thoughts.

"What's up? Something's bothering you, I can tell," I said, pulling his closer to me as we walked slowly.

"Nothing, I just wished we had more time to do things like this. I miss the normal things sometimes." His husky voice stuttered.

"Oh Harry." I said, stopping and pulling his body towards mine.

"We will, we just need to work on how this is all going to work" I said, trying to put his mind at rest.

"I know… It's just hard. I'm not used to all this… Stuff" He closed his eyes, resting his chin on my shoulder.

"Neither is anyone though, you and Louis talk about this kinda stuff don't you? He and Hannah must be going through the same stuff, and she doesn't even live with him! At least you've got me at the house most of the time" I smiled trying to lighten his mood.

He smiled back and I knew he would be fine, I think he missed his family more than he let on. It was hard on all the boys, all of us being so young and sometimes not seeing our families for weeks on end.

By now, the once diamond sun had transformed into a smouldering deep orange, yellow and pink, ball of fire. It was like a crystal chandelier hanging just above the horizon, casting long shadows across the ground. The sun was almost incandescing with wispy clouds surrounding it. The horizon was ablaze with colour; orange, yellow, pink and hints of deep maroon and turquoise painted the sky. The sunset was all over very quickly, and then the darkness started to set in. Slate grey covering the sleepless city below.

We headed back to the house slowly, taking out time. Twilight had set in as streetlights flickered on around us and the sky went from dark grey to black. Stars twinkled above our heads, glinting in the cloudless sky.

We returned to the house well after dark, Louis was in the hallway, trying to cut open a padded box as we came in.

"What are you doing?" I asked, taking my coat and boots off.

"Xbox Kinect's arrived!" Louis said, excitably.

Everyone gathered as Louis started to plug different things into the TV mounted on the wall. The screen flashed on and Louis was the first to have a go. He jumped and kicked excitedly, playing a football game. Everyone wanted a go after a few minutes of admiring the precision of the movements showed on the screen.

I headed upstairs to get changed, but as I rounded the staircase I noticed two Star Wars Light sabers, one red and one blue leaning against the side table in the hall.

I took them downstairs, confused. I walked in to find Louis and Niall dancing to a disco song. Louis added in his "pat the dog, screw the light bulb" and I laughed.

"What are these?" I asked over the music. Louis' eyes lit up as he charged towards me. He grabbed both of them, and chucked one towards Harry, who caught it skillfully and jumped up.

"I HAVE YOU NOW!" Louis shouted, swinging the light saber from side to side.

Louis and Harry "fought" and Louis ended up pinning Harry down on the sofa.

I headed upstairs, tired from the day but as soon as I climbed into bed cramps licked at my stomach and I knew exactly why. I curled into the fetal position and tried to fall asleep, but the pain just got worse and worse. Harry strolled in at 12:45 and I was still awake. He knew something was up as soon as he got under the covers.

"Hey, what's up?" He asked, caringly. He moved closer to me carefully and slid his arm around my body.

"Cramps" I said, exhausted.

I could feel his body warmth next to me and his scent soothed my fraught mind. He moved his hands down and rubbed my stomach like a mother would do to her baby. "Better?" He asked gently, only whispering.

"Mmmhmm" I replied, almost asleep.

I closed my eyes again and placed my hands over Harrys, still on my stomach. We lay in the dark silence, holding each other closely, not making a sound.


	10. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

The next morning Harry woke me, rain splattering against the window viciously. The wind howled "Hey. Something's happened with Liam" He said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"What? What's happened?" I asked, confused by Harrys tone of voice.

"Nicola's boyfriend got in a fight." He paused "He died last night". He said blankly, looking at the floor.

"Oh my god!" I put my hand over my mouth. I had met both of them at the live shows.

"Is he okay? Where is he?" I asked, moving towards Harry. I pulled him towards me and hugged him tightly.

"He's downstairs, on the phone to Nic and his mum"

I got up and headed downstairs, Liam was sitting on his own in the living room, staring into space. His hazel brown eyes were glazed over, his expression emotionless. I sat next to him, not saying a word. He finally bought himself out of his daydream a second later.

"Hey" He said quietly.

"I'm so sorry Liam" I replied, hugging him around shoulders.

"I'm okay, I'm just worried about Nic. I think I'm gonna go home for a few days" He said, still with a blank expression on his face.

"Maybe that's best, make sure your sisters alright" I said as Harry appeared at the door.

Everyone was in shock, the house wasn't full of laughter like normal, but it was deadly silent. Sorrow filled each of the boys' eyes; it was like when twins or siblings felt the same emotions as each other when in danger or sadness, they were like a pack of wolves, sticking together and being there for each other in times of sadness or distress.

Harry drove with Louis and Liam to the airport. It was sad seeing Liam leaving, as the rest of us were staying, but he promised he would be back for Zayn's birthday.

The house fell silent again, Niall disappeared upstairs and Zayn was sitting at the kitchen table, on his laptop with his earphone in.

I wondered upstairs slowly, in a daze. I stepped into the still and dormant bedroom, clothes scattered the floor and I picked them up quickly and put them in a small pile by the bed.

I sat on the soft duvet, silent and in thought. I decided to tidy the place up, put away the Christmas presents that were still in a pile on the side and hoover the black fluff up from Harry's hoodie that was collecting next to the wardrobe.

I rummaged through a drawer that was from Harry's old bedroom; clothing tags and random pieces of schoolwork were still inside.

I smiled, looking through the random bits of paper. There was one where doodles covered the back, he had written his name in bubble writing but next to them, another coloured pen had drawn a heart and her name.

**Harry ****'s Ellis **

Ellis was one Harry's closest girl-friends in school, and his ex. I would always hear about rumors of them being more than just friends in the early weeks of us being together.

Underneath some folders was a stack of letters, addressed to Harry. They were being kept together by a thick elastic band. The handwriting was big, flowing and girly.

I took the letters in my hand, and slid the first one on the top of the pile out. The paper on the envelope was ripped, so the paper slid out easily.

Opening the lined A4 piece of paper, my heart started the race.

_Dear Harry,_

The letter read.

_I sit here in sorrow, wishing I could hold you. I've realized that I've tried to replace you over and over since I made the foolish decision to leave you. But, no one can make me laugh and smile like you do. You are the only one that ever made me so happy._

_No one could ever take your place. I feel as if my soul has stolen my heart and left me to cry myself to sleep each and every night with guilt in my heart of how I hurt you._

_I guess you just don't realize what you have until it's gone. I was so stupid to leave you. I know sorry is just a word, but for what it's worth I am very sorry and I beg with every ounce of my soul please forgive me._

_Love Always,_

_Ellis xxx_

It was written in perfectly formed handwriting. My eyes filled with tears. What was this? I was confused and angry.

She was stunning… A tanned, blonde, skinny, soon-to-be model, and there she was, confessing her undying love for Harry in the letter that I held in my hands.

I flicked through the other envelopes; they were all addressed to Harry. I couldn't bear to read any more so I stuffed them back in the drawer. I sat crossed-legged on the floor reading the same letter over and over again.

Harry wondered in, frightening me. He looked at me strangely as I looked up at him, tears flowing down my face.

Harry sighed and sat next to me, taking the letter from my shaking hand.

"I knew I should've chucked these away" He said slowly and quietly, almost to himself.

"What _are_ they?" I replied, confused.

He sighed again, looking at me seriously.

"They were from ages ago, before we had even met," He answered.

"Why have you kept them all this time?" I asked, wiping the tears away from my face and neck.

"Because she was a big part of my life, Soph" He said, shrugging.

"But this doesn't sound like just teenage crush" I said seriously.

"It maybe wasn't to her, but I've never loved anyone more than you" He replied, playing with the chord of his hoodie.

"But Harry, this isn't just something I can forget about. Every time we go home, all I'm going to be able to think about is if she's still in love with you or not" I said, not knowing how to react.

"I know, I know" He said, opening his arms wide. I crawled towards him, not wanting to be mad anymore. Nicola's boyfriend's death had taught me that people could be snatched away in the click of your fingers; I had to put this whole behind me as soon as possible and appreciate my boyfriend, in every single way possible.


	11. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

The dark hot air engulfed me; Harry was right behind me, stepping off the huge plane. An 11-hour flight with the 5 boys was one of the strangest experiences of my life, Zayn and Liam were up and down every 10 minutes and Niall had slept most of the flight. We had sat in a row; Harry, Me, Louis, Niall, Liam and Niall on the end. They boys had got quite a lot of attention from the people around us, and there were quite a few teenage girls that were walking past every 20 minutes or so. Some had asked for autographs and photos, but the flight was easy and flew by without a hitch.

Taking off filled me with dread but Harry and Louis held my hands either side of me until we were safely high in the air. I peeped over to the nearest window; the cars and roads and buildings were slowly disappearing underneath the thick blanket of clouds.

We reached the gate to collect our baggage; I struggled to lift my suitcase off the conveyor belt but I felt Harry's strong grip around my hands as he grabbed it off me.

"Ready to go?" He said, pulling me close. I was uncomfortable and sticky from the flight and just wanted to collapse into his arms and sleep for a decade, but there were expectant paps all around the terminal, we had been told.

"Can I just go to the loo before we have to go out there?" I asked, pulling away from him and reaching for my still immaculate and beautiful handbag.

"Sure" He replied, perching on his suitcase and getting his phone out of his pocket.

I wondered over to the toilets, pulling my long hair into a messy bun. I looked deeply into the mirror, studying my tired face. I had decided against makeup, it would only have ended up half way across my face. I had milky, light blue circles under my eyes and my eyes were bloodshot, I felt like death.

I huffed, splashing my face with freezing cold water; it felt good against my burning skin. It was 11 o'clock at night, but still managed to feel like an oven. Although it was nice to get away from minus temperatures, rain, wind and snow, it felt surreal to be in Los Angeles.

I swung open the door to find all 5 boys waiting patiently for me.

"Sorry!" I said sheepishly "Ready?" I added, taking Harry's hand in mine. His hands were ho and I could feel his heartbeat in the palm of his hand. We stepped out into flashing lights and shouting; disorientated I walked blindly into Liam's suitcase, tripping and almost falling flat on my face; luckily Niall grabbed my arm before I went over.

I laughed, embarrassedly. I composed myself and headed for the car as quickly as I could. I was mortified as Harry slid in next to me.

"I can just imagine the headlines "Harry's girl goes One Direction.. Down"" He chuckled as I put my head in my hands and leaned into the crook of his arm, laughing with him and the boys.


	12. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

The burning sun beat down on us. It was hot.. So hot. I was dressed in a light t-shirt and small denim shorts, but sweat was still running down my neck. I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand and squinted my eyes in the bright sunshine, sliding my Ray-Bans back up my nose. We headed into the small hotel entrance quickly; glad to be out of the heat. The air-conditioning blasted our faces, cooling us both instantly. I breathed a sigh of relief, and followed Harry, who had my hand in his, towards the lifts. He swung the three Abercrombie and Fitch bags forwards and backwards, and they rustled together slightly. He looked at me and smiled as the lift door opened.

"After you" He purred cheekily and put his hand out, motioning to the lift.

I smiled as he wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed my neck; my hair in a high messy bun on the top of my head. His plump lips created suction as he moved his tongue against my skin; making a quiet slurping noise in my ear. He suddenly latched onto my skin, sucking as hard as he could.

"Stop!" I laughed, but he refused. I pushed him away playfully, but he kept drawing my skin into his mouth. Finally, as the doors slid open he let go.

"I hate you," I said, rubbing the stinging patch of red skin on the side of my neck.

He laughed, touching his fingers to his bright crimson, saliva covered lips. I looked at him through squinted eyes, my face serious.

"C'mon babe, it was just a bit of fun" He exclaimed, pulling me towards him and planting a gentle kiss on the bright red sliver of skin. I tried resisting, but he was too strong to contend with.

"Get off of me, you goon" I said, pushing him away gently. I skipped down the dark corridor towards our hotel room. Room 312.

I stopped outside the door, rummaging in my handbag for the keycard. I slid the card gently in and flung the heavy door open with a whoosh.

Harry followed behind me, plopping himself on the small sofa opposite the huge plasma screen and switched it on with the remote control. I stalked into the bathroom, heading for the enormous mirror mounted above the huge marble sink.

I touched my warm fingers gently to the maroon coloured smudge on the side of my neck, still damp with Harry's saliva. I winced; I had never been giving a love bite before. I furrowed my brow, slightly confused but equally thrilled at his actions.

I poked my head around the door; Harry was humming quietly to himself, preoccupied by the music video playing on MTV. I headed towards him, grabbing the remote from the side of the sofa and clicked the off button. The TV made a low noise then went blank; silence filling the once noisy room.

"They say that TV is the death of all conversation," I said quietly. He looked relaxed, reclined against the back of the plump sofa. His tracksuit bottoms were low, his boxers showing. His tight t-shirt framing his toned torso perfectly I scanned his features, he was grinning widely at me.

"My Cheshire cat" I giggled, stroking my hand over his soft cheek and smiling back at him.

I was in front of him now, my knee touching his. He leaned into me, his head resting on my stomach and his arms around my thighs. My elbows rested on his shoulders, playing gently with his delicate curls. I tickled his ear, making him chuckle quietly. I stroked my fingers down his neck and lifted his chin up, his arms still around my knees.

I doubled over, just enough to touch my lips to his. I placed my hands either side of his face, his curls brushing my fingers. I bent one leg and rested on the seat of the sofa and pushed his shoulders back tenderly. His breathing faltered as I straddled him, pressing my body into his. He leaned back against the soft pillows, a look of content on his face.

His cold fingers slipped under the thin fabric of my t-shirt, pulling it quickly over my head. His fingers kneaded the ample skin on my sides, sliding his hands slowly downwards.

I teased the hem of his t-shirt, tempting him as I bit my bottom lip softly. He looked at me, passion and excitement filled his features; his lip slightly curled with a smirk.

I slowly lifted the material up as I concentrated on his face, his nostrils flaring slightly as my fingers lightly grazed the milky skin on his stomach. My fingers traced the line of his hipbone and swirled around his small belly button, his skin like silk.

Harry struggled out of his t-shirt completely, throwing it to the side. His manly hands were on my thighs again, massaging his fingers in small circular motions. I laughed quietly as he looked me up and down, his hand moving towards the buttons of my small pair of denim shorts. As the last button popped open he rolled on top of me, my head crashing onto the huge pillow next to him. He became powerful and assertive, his hands doing the talking. He pulled viciously at my shorts like an animal, sliding them over my hips as I tugged at the waistband of his loosely fitting trackies.

He leaned in; his lips scraping the flushing pink and blue stain once again. He trailed his tongue down my neck, my perfume tingling his tongue. My hands planted in his hair, lacing my fingers in his curls, pulling him closer to me, my elbows putting pressure onto his shoulders.

Goose bumps washed over me like the tide of a glistening ocean as his fingers slipped between my legs, tracing the line of my underwear. I felt him against me, pushing urgently; the material of his Calvin Klein stretching slightly.

"You're so fucking sexy," He groaned, his hands exploring once again, his pearly white teeth sinking into the soft flesh on my sun-bronzed shoulder. His finger slipped between my legs, I smirked as he trailed his damp finger up my stomach, leaving a line of moisture on my skin.

Suddenly I heard a familiar noise outside. It was Louis' unmistakable laugh.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

I gasped, panic filling the air between us. Harry quickly jumped up and fumbled for his t-shirt, while pulling his trackies up. He threw my shorts on the sofa as he laughed.

"Just a minute!" he shouted.

Harry headed for the door as I pulled my shorts over my hips and buttoned them quickly.

The door whooshed open, 4 boys hastily filling the room with laughter and noise.

"Hey guys" Louis said slowly and cautiously. "Not interrupting anything, I hope," He added.

"Nope" I answered, a smile and slight nervous laugh on my lips.

The room fell awkwardly silent as I laughed again.

"Oh god. You guys were.." He stopped, clearly embarrassed. Louis laughed and turned his back to us, heading for the door. The other boys followed and sniggered under their breaths.

"Have fun!" He shouted as the door slammed shut, silence filling the room once again.

"Whoops!" Louis said loudly on the other side of the door, as cackles of laughter filled the corridor.

"Come here" He said quietly, moving towards me and obviously wanting to finish what we had started.


	13. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Screams were audible from afar, girls running in every direction. It was mayhem at Heathrow airport when we landed. My eyes were groggy, bloodshot; my skin dry and pallid. I yawned heavily and pulled Harry closer, feeling his warm arms around me was comforting. My hands were tightly inside the sleeves of the sweatshirt that I had pulled on as soon as we had taken our seats on the flight back, it smelt of Harry; one of his favorites.

I scanned the huge open space, people milling around, stressed and tired just like us. Harry's eyes were drooping, heavy and unresponsive.

"You alright?" I whispered meekly into his shoulder.

"Yeah. Knackered though" He replied, his head sinking into the crook of my neck, nuzzling the velvety sensitive skin with his nose and slightly chapped lips. I could feel the warm skin of his nose press down, his lips leaving little halos of dew on my skin. I closed my eyes for a second, Harry's hair tickling my nose gently as I inhaled, I felt as if I would never be able to open them again.

"Right, we need a plan B. It's way too crazy out there for all of you, Niall, Zayn and Liam go out the back, Louis and Harry follow me. We'll try and meet at the car" The Boys' manager said sternly.

"Soph, you probably wanna hold back a bit, just meet us at the car, okay?" I nodded; hating the fact I had to pull away from Harry's cozy embrace.

I grabbed the handle of my suitcase, Harry's arms still around my hips.

"See you in a few" I croaked, fusing my lips with Harry's as the boys wandered off, leaving me stood alone with just a suitcase for company.

I huffed, knowing exactly where I was supposed to be going, but not moving from my spot for a few minutes. I pulled my phone from my pocket, 3 missed calls and 13 texts since I had last checked.

I huffed again, placing the phone back into Harry's jumper pocket and starting to prepare for the long and tiresome walk to the car.

Suddenly I heard the screaming increase, shouting and ecstasy filled the air. I decided to ignore it, making my way out into the bitterly cold, but sunny day, humming quietly to myself.

A small group of girls gaggled in front of me, I picked up a few words as I passed them.

"Where shall we go?" "Which way?" "Where are they?"

I smiled, knowing that the boys loved seeing their fans supporting them through every step of the way. They loved the attention but most of all the love from all the girls.

I strolled toward the black people carrier, the windows dark and cryptic. The driver took my bag and placed them heavy-handedly into the back of the car. I hopped in skillfully, rummaging in my bag for my iPod.

I tapped impatiently on the seat as the music played in my ears, it had been 20 minutes since they had left.. Where were they?

The driver picked up his flashing mobile, starting the engine with his other hand. I quickly pulled the earbud out of my ears, a look of confusion on my face.

"Where are we going?" I asked, leaning forward and looking out of the car window. Crowds of girls filled the car park now, all crowded in one area, a police van right in the middle of the commotion.

"Oh. My. God" I said quietly, knowing exactly what had happened. The van pulled away, police now surrounding the huge crowd.

I quickly grabbed at my phone, scrolling desperately to find Harry in my contacts.

It rung twice, then a familiar voice answered.

"What the hell just happened?" I said quickly, the words tumbling out in a panic.

"Fuck.. I have absolutely no idea" Harry replied with no humor in his voice, a nervous laugh cascading into my ears; making my lip tremble with panic and concern.


	14. Chapter 25  The final chapter

Chapter 25 – The final chapter.

"Bye baby, I love you" I stirred, not quite knowing what was happening. A brush of curls on my cheek, a warm kiss on my forehead and realized. His scent awoke me even more, his body hanging over me, my eyes not letting me focus on anything but his dark silhouette.

"Love you too" I managed to squeak timidly, a warm body suddenly tightly embracing me. I smiled as his lips brushed mine, unable to open my eyes due to the bright beacon of light that flooded the dark room from the hallway. His body weight on top of me was comforting, his legs either side of me sent my mind into a frenzy of thoughts. His lips brushed the skin of my cheek, his eyelashes skimmed the moisture that was left behind. His tongue trailed down my throat, making me giggle in a daze.

"Is this one of those nice dreams I sometimes have? When you and I.." I whispered, trailing off - My fingers threading with his soft brown curls.

He pulled away, taking my hand in his and kissing each fingertip gently.

"Unfortunately not" He said with a cheeky grin "but I'll talk to you later, okay?" He added, my head already lolling against the soft pillow.

"Mmm-hmm" I replied, unconsciousness already taking over, the darkness inclosing in on me rapidly. The silhouette blurred, the room became dark again, the small click of the door handle only just audible.

I lay in the cold and lonely bed, my eyes fuzzy and skin clammy. Jetlag seared my brain, a thumping headache chimed against my skull; I could feel the blood vessels on my temples throbbing against my skin. I sat up; sunlight seeped faintly through the material of the thick curtains. I tried to think straight, my eyes flipping around the room.

There was no Harry; no noises rang through the entire house at all; which was extraordinary for a house occupied with 5 boys.

Then, I remembered; I was alone. No Harry, no boys; Alone.

They had left in the early morning before the sun had even broken, heading up North for rehearsals for the upcoming X Factor Tour. I crashed my head back on the soft pillow, letting my heavy eyelids shut slowly again. I shifted my position, my arm drifting over the cool mattress and gliding under the pillow that was supporting my head.

Something slid silently down the pillow next to my head, a light thud hitting the duvet; a small crack of rustling paper reaching my ears too. My eyes shot open, scanning the duvet underneath me.

A small cassette tape lay on the soft, white duvet; a small note cellotaped to the back.

I reached my hand out towards the alien object; I hadn't even seen a cassette since the Teletubbies days.

I squinted my eyes, trying to focus on the small scrawl of writing on the paper strip of the cassette.

_For you _

I flipped the tape over, the piece of card covered in Harry's small handwriting.

_You know how much I love you, but you know me – always the romantic ;) I've been waiting for the right moment to give you this. Every time I've missed you when we've been apart, I would record a song…_

"_Love is not, when it alteration finds."_

I read the writing quickly, my eyes blurring with moisture. I smiled, a small laugh escaping my lips, a sliver of a tear running down my cheek. I could not love this boy more than I already did, but the things he did; the effort and thought he put into everything he did for me made me feel indescribable things; a cauldron of emotion stirred in my stomach, a feeling of happiness and love – every word to describe Harry bubbled inanimately too.

I fumbled with the tape, realizing that there was more on the flip side of the piece of card. A Playlist.

_Isn't She Lovely_

_Chasing Cars_

_Free Fallin'_

_Maybe I'm Amazed_

_Wonderful Tonight_

_Home_

_I Just Called To Say I Love You_

My hand was trembling slightly, as I looked around the room. How was I going to listen to this thing? I suddenly spotted a piece of card taped to the dressing table, in the same coloured card as the note.

I jumped out of the bed, my naked legs tingling as my feet hit the cool carpet. I stepped over to the dresser, stooping slightly to rip the note off cleanly.

_You stand here at the beginning_

_Of a quest that you wont regret._

_When you search the place we cuddle,_

_You'll find the note quick, I bet._

I laughed, it was a game.. A scavenger hunt. Even without him here, Harry never failed to make me smile like an idiot.

"Place we cuddle" I thought deeply.

**Sofa.**

My feet sped over each other as I rushed down the stairs, a smile spread across my face, eager to find the next clue.

I ran into the living room, cold and quiet. Scanning the sofa, another scrap of card lie gently on the seat. I scrambled for the card as if it would disappear if I didn't grab it.

_You're looking for a box_

_That stands so strong and bold._

_If you choose to look inside,_

_You'll find it's oh so cold._

I held the card in my agile fingers, reading the note quickly again. My mind filled with excitement. Although I was alone I felt somewhat fulfilled, happy and content; almost like Harry was still here with me.

There was only one place that would be "oh so cold" – Zayn's favourite place in the whole house.. The fridge.

I skidded into the kitchen, my toes already frozen from the glossy tiles that covered the floor; I heaved the heavy door open. The American-style fridge was a huge with an ice machine and shelves that stretched from above my head to the floor.

Sat in the middle shelf, surrounded by loose eggs and a carton of milk, was a small red box. It was a card box, with small hearts drawn all over it neatly in black ink.

I slid my fingers around it, guiding it closer to the edge of the shelf. Once I finally had it in my hands, I hastily took the top off and peered inside.

I thought what would lay inside the box would be the cassette player, and that would be the end of the hunt.. But another small note rested on a handful of red tissue paper.

_A man's heart can be reached_

_In a round a bout way,_

_Open the door to this place_

_And you might get there today._

_In case you need a bit more info_

_I'll try to brighten your mood._

_Follow your stomach to another place_

_You could store a little food_

I pondered on his carefully thought out words, "store a little food" could only mean one more place… The pantry.

I twisted around, facing the white door of the pantry head on. I was giddy and nervous about what may be waiting for me inside, but there was nothing in this world I wanted more than to hear Harry's sweet voice again.

I skipped to the door that had been left ajar – coaxing me to open it. I placed my fingers over the handle; it was cool to the touch, making my legs shiver slightly.

I pulled the handle toward me, the door swinging easily open; my breath held tightly between my dry and chapped lips. The breeze from the opening door blew over my face; strands of hair flew up and then settled again, tickling my nose.

I examined the small room, the window at the end streamed sunlight, swirling patterns covering the grey tiled floor reflecting off tin cans than lined the shelves.

There, in the middle of the floor was a blanket laid in a perfect square, a cassette player positioned in the middle and two cushions stood up against one side, slanted slightly. I sighed, smiling to myself, wishing he were here to enjoy this magical moment with me.

I clasped the cassette in my hand tightly, preparing myself for what was to come; thoughts fluffing my brain. I was still only in my pajamas; my hair tied loosely in a bun on the top of my head.

I tiptoed toward the blanket, my feet finding the soft material after a few steps. I slid down, my back resting against the pillows. I felt giddy; my knees shook slightly as I picked the small cassette player up from the floor, easily fitting in my hand.

I pressed the open button, and expectedly the draw popped open. I slid the tape in, holding my breath as I did. Shutting the lid down, I didn't know if I could cope with listening to it without completely breaking down.

As I sat in the solitary silence, not daring to press play, I remembered the lyrics to a song I used to love.

"_And this is my mix tape for her, it's like I wrote every note with my own fingers"_

My finger hovered over the play button, crystal tears threatening to fall already.

Click.

I waited in intense anticipation, just the slight static noise playing. The air felt heavy around me. All of a sudden Harry cleared his throat and a chime of acoustic guitar strings started to play a recognizable melody.

I smiled, weeping tears glided down my cheeks continuously.

"_Isn't she lovely? Isn't she wonderful?"_

I curled into a ball; knees tight to my chest, sobbing quietly to myself, but a huge smile spread across my face too.

In that moment I knew that the most important thing to me was the boy who I loved with every fiber of my being, with every sinew of my anatomy.

He was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

In that moment, with my head in my hands, I prayed - Prayed to God that nothing would ever come between us, because I knew I would never be able to love someone as much as I did him.

Emotion poured out of me, huge sobs escaped my trembling lips but Harry's voice, blissfully unaware, drowned out the commotion. Unexpectedly the next track started to play; I listened, trying to control the spasms that tried to burst out between my lips.

As I concentrated on Harry's voice, one line engraved on my mind, and in my heart forever.

"_**We don't need anything, or anyone…"**_

This was my Mixed Tape. This was his Mixed Tape. _This was our Mixed Tape._

_**A/N – I just wanted to take the time to thank every single one of you that has been reading TMT for the last few months. I looked back on my documents this morning – 18**__**th**__** of December was when I first started writing this. I had 13 followers on Tumblr, and was writing for no real reason. Over those months I have grown as a person, and I have all of you to thank for that. Every one of you that has left me a nice message, or feedback has been a part of this absolutely wonderful and awe-inspiring experience, and I will never forget what The Mixed Tape has done for me. It's bought new (in some cases, best) friends, new confidence, and has taught me indescribable amounts. I really hope you have enjoyed reading The Mixed Tape, because I know that I have absolutely loved writing it.**_

_**I went into writing the first chapter with nothing to lose, it had no real purpose – But overtime it has gained a purpose. A purpose to let people escape into the world I had created through my writing, and I really hope I have done it justice for you all. Again, I can't thank you all enough, and I really hope that I have ended this whole journey well for you.**_

_**Now that TMT is finished, a little message would mean the world to me. At this very moment I almost feel like a little part of me has died – The characters have become so much a big part of my life it feels a little strange to be writing this.**_

_**This journey has been incredible, and I can't describe how much you all mean to me.**_

_**Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart.**_

_**-Sophie xxx**_


End file.
